Life of Adrian Tepes
by Cody the Impaler
Summary: Adrian Tepes' life in his own words. Journey with Adrian through the years 1478 to 1808 as he talks about his parents, battling his father, Maria, children, religion, and life in general. (Story Complete!).
1. Family History

_The story of Adrian Farenheights Tepes.  Written by my own hand beginning March 03, 1808._

_  
Do your demons,  
do they ever let you go?  
When you've tried-do they hide-deep inside  
is it someone that you know?_

_You're just a picture.  
Just an image caught in time.  
We're a lie-you and I,  
we're words without a rhyme.  
There's no sign of the morning coming,  
you've been left on your own,  
like a rainbow in the dark_-

"Rainbow in the Dark"-Ronnie James Dio

Family History__

     My family is Romanian and has been for centuries, and so that legacy continued with me when I entered the world on September 27, 1478, as the unusual union between Prince Vlad Tepes III and Lisa Romoff.  Vlad Tepes, my father, is commonly known and feared as the vampire Dracula, but he was not always that way. 

     Father was born into this world in the year 1431, and his birth was no different than the birth of my two sons.  Yet in 1462 a transformation took place that would alter his world forever. 

     1462 was a horrible year in Romanian history.  The country (or the country that would eventually come to be known as Romania) was under constant threat by the Turks, who wanted to destroy Christendom and establish Islam as the new doctrine of the land.  My father was the prince of the Romanian province Wallachia.  He was a moderately tall man for his era with broad shoulders, dark eyes, and long flowing dark hair.  He was loyal to the Orthodox Church, but he was even more loyal to his country, and Father was not going to stand by and allow the Turks to destroy the faith and culture of his Romanian people. 

     Father faced the Turks in a fierce battle, and succeeded in repelling them from Romania's shores through the use of torture.  When the Sultan's troops arrived they were horrified at the sight of their fellow comrades impaled on large stakes in the forest.  This event in our country's history has come be known as the _forest of the impaled_.  Despite the brutality of Father's tactic he was greeted with shouts of acclamation for defending not only the Christian faith, but also the country.  Nevertheless, the praise he received for his victory would eventually turn to personal sorrow. 

     While Father was away fighting the Turks someone shot an arrow into Castle Poneria (now Castle Dracula).  At the end of this arrow was a false message that stated Father had been killed on the battlefield.  No one knows who shot the arrow; or if the individual who shot the arrow was the victim of receiving false information, or was trying to create chaos within the walls of the Castle.  Whatever the intention, the message reached Father's wife (I do not know what her name was), and assuming that the message was authentic she flung herself from the Castle tower into the river Agnes below.  She either hit her head on a rock, or landed in water that was too shallow.  Regardless of how she landed, she was dead.  (I have never lost a wife, and do not ever intend on losing Maria, so I do not intend to try and understand how Father felt.)

     Her body was fished from the river and placed in an open casket inside the Castle chapel.  The priests, who the bishop allowed to serve inside the Castle, tried their best to comfort Father, but the moment he asked them about funeral arrangements their reply was one that would change his life forever.

     The priests told Father that she was not allowed to receive a funeral Mass or a burial in the churchyard.  According to the priests, his wife was in Hell.  By committing suicide she destroyed the life of her soul and insulted God in the process.  Needless to say, Father was not happy about this at all.  He cursed God as being nothing but a cruel, unloving God; and cursed those who fed off Him.  The priests attempted to calm Father down and explain to him the Christian teaching on such matters, but he wanted none of it.  He responded to the priests' defense of Christian doctrine by piercing the image of the crucifix above the chapel altar with his sword, and ordered all of them barred from the Castle.  No priest ever entered the Castle again.  At least not while Father was alive…or whatever you want to call his later state of life. 

     Even today when I think about this story that I remember hearing about so long ago from my mother I still believe that Father had every right in the world to be angry at those priests.  Those priests had no right to tell Father that his wife was burning in Hell!  The Jesus that is talked about in the Bible preaches a message of not judging others.  The priests in Father's court seemed to forget that teaching of Jesus.  Still, I do not justify Father's actions against God or the Church.  Father had every right to be upset at those particular priests, but I don't find God at fault for what happened.  I actually explained this point of view to my brother-in-law, Father Richter Belmont, shortly before my oldest son, Lysander's, baptism.  Richter cast me a sharp glare when he first heard my position-to the point where I believed he wasn't going to baptize my son-but once I explained the other aspect of my statement he said, "Well, I agree with you Adrian.  Those priests should've considered the fact that she might've made a private confession directly to God before her passing, but that still does not excuse your father's actions."  And I couldn't agree more.  From that day on Father viewed himself to be at war with God, and would do anything to defy God's will.  It was somewhere around this time that he discovered the ancient legend of vampires.

     Vampirism did not start with Father.  The legend of vampires has been in existence for centuries; probably for almost as long as mankind has walked the earth there had been stories of vampires in almost every culture.  Regardless of the culture, the philosophy behind vampirism is essentially the same.  Vampirism centers on the idea that by drinking the blood of the living a person can sustain his or her own life to the point where they can escape death.  To Father this philosophy was perfect.  If he couldn't defeat God in life, he could do so from beyond the grave.  I can just imagine the sickness my father's servants felt when they presented him with a goblet that contained the blood of an impaled victim. 

     Obviously the idea worked, because I was born in the year 1478 and Father was killed in battle in the year 1476.  Legend has it that shortly after Father's death he met the Devil, who gave him what he wanted.  If this legend is true it was never spoken around me.  Of course, I did not understand what my father was until I was a teenager.  I would, however, be willing to believe that all the power my father received was a gift from the Devil.  And although he was blessed with newfound powers, he also discovered the difficulties to being a creature of darkness.

     One of his difficulties was a weakness to sunlight.  Some beliefs describe vampires as being destroyed by sunlight.  This is not exactly the case.  My father, as legend has it, was the only vampire in the world at the time he re-entered the land of the living.  Therefore, Father was an extremely powerful vampire.  Sunlight would not destroy him, but it would weaken his powers.  Younger vampires, while not being destroyed by sunlight, become so weak to it that a vampire hunter can easily slay them.

     Father also was unable to cast his eyes upon a religious image (although, according to legend, he couldn't stand to do so during his breathing days).  Why are vampires repelled by religious images?  As I understand it, when a vampire views a religious image he or she sees more than what we see.  For example, if a vampire sees an icon of Christ they see more than just a picture of Jesus.  They see the image of Christ Himself repelling them away.  And if a vampire is within the vicinity of the Eucharist the results are absolutely deadly.    

     When it comes to my mother's family I know very little.  She was born in the year 1456 to John and Anne Romoff, but I know very little about her parents.  I met them once in my life, and it was not a pleasant experience.  How my mother and father met is another mystery I have not been able to solve.  I remember asking my mother about it once, but it has been such a long time that I cannot remember everything that she told me.  What I do remember is Mother telling me that she met Father by accident, which seems to be how a lot of relationships start.  Regardless of how the two met, Mother had the ability to bring out the humanity in Father.  Perhaps it is possible that if their relationship could have continued for another couple of years the vampire Dracula would have never been known except for a few people in the Castle's inner circle.   


	2. Beginnings of Life

_There's a time to live  
and a time to die,  
when it's time to meet your maker.  
There's a time to live, but isn't it strange;  
that as soon as you're born you're dying?_-

"The Clairvoyant"-Iron Maiden

Beginnings

     Before I could begin to write this chapter I had to take a moment to observe my two sons Lysander (age four) and Alcander (age two) playing outside with their mother behind our villa.  I had to observe them, because they are within the age that this section of my story takes place.

     Obviously I do not remember when I was born.  In fact, I have never met a person who can remember their birth, and I seriously doubt that I ever will.  All I know about the day I was born was what my mother told me.  She told me that on that late September day there was a cool breeze in the air, and it was making the Castle feel damp.  She informed me that when she went into labor she ordered Father to remove whatever was causing the damp feeling inside the Castle, because she felt that it might affect me during the first few hours of my life.

     But as for the birth itself, she told me nothing.  Or if she did I simply cannot remember.  I am sure that despite being the unusual offspring between a vampire and a mortal woman my birth was as normal as Lysander and Alcander's births a few years ago.  I am sure that Mother experienced labor pains, unlike what some of the early Church Fathers claimed that the Virgin Mary experienced when she gave birth to Christ.

     Nevertheless, I was the unusual child of a human woman and a vampire, so there must have been something special about me.  Well, there are two things about me that are unique. 

     The first was that I was born with some of the powers of a vampire.  However, I was unable to discover these powers until I was much older.

     The second was that every time I fed I never removed waste.  In other words, I never had to go to the bathroom.  I was a dream child to all parents with young children; but despite these two special features I do not believe that I was any different from other children of the same age.  I learned to crawl and walk in the same manner as Lysander and Alcander did.  When I was hungry I cried, and when I was scared I cried.  And I grew in height just as all children do.

     Of the early years of my life I have very few memories.  I remember spending a lot of time around my mother, and the feeling of warmth that she gave me.  However, there is one specific moment from my early years that I can remember.

     I was around Alcander's age, and I remember waking up in my crib late one evening.  The Castle's nursery was complete darkness (Alcander's actually has a little more light).  All I could see were some of the crib toys scattered around me, but they did not hold my interest.  I wanted my mother.  I wanted her to lift me out of that crib so we could play.  Since I did not know where she was I started to cry, because I thought that it would bring her to me.  Well, it did bring her to me, but instead she lifted me out of that crib and carried me to the master bedroom with her, which is not what I wanted.

     Occasionally, I think about this early moment of my life when Alcander wakes Maria and I up during the early hours of the morning.  I told Maria about it once after she returned from trying to pacify Alcander, but she did not think much about it.  She asked me when did I all of a sudden become a "baby expert?"  Well, I may not be a 'baby expert,' but I do know that one evening when Alcander's cries woke us up, and Maria carried him back to our bedroom, my brown eyes locked with his green eyes and I said to him, "Cander, you only woke us up just so you could receive our attention, right?"  He started to giggle, so I take that as a good sign that my theory is partially right.  


	3. Childhood

_Two faces on fire.  
No traces,  
something has swallowed the night.  
You know that nothing can make it all right.  
Like candy, emotion.  
Too much and sugar can turn to sand.  
You scream but nobody touches your hand.  
Are we just shouting at the pain?  
Or do we see just what we are?  
We're naked in the rain!_-

"Naked in the Rain"-Ronnie James Dio

Childhood

     If I could describe my childhood growing up in Castle Dracula I would have to conclude that it was not great but it probably could have been much worse.  By this time everyone in the village knew something about what my father had become, but due to the influence of my mother my father ceased to feed on the blood of humans.  Because of this, the legend of Father being a vampire was put aside in the thoughts of people. 

     At night Father would roam the woods of the forest adjacent to the Castle and search for animals he could feed on.  Typically after draining the blood of an animal, for example a rabbit, Father would carry its remains back to the Castle for Mother to cook the meat for herself and me.

     Life in the Castle at this time was different when I was a boy then it was when I was a teenager.  When I was a child there were no monsters roaming the floors the Castle, so every floor was perfectly safe.  This was done because Father felt no need of urgency to protect himself and his family.

     My mother was my closest companion.  She was always there to play with me, and to tell me fairy tales from Germany.  Although how she was able to hear of these tales herself is a mystery that I have never been able to solve.  I saw very little of my father.  He slept during the day, as would be his custom, but he did occasionally venture into the daylight.

     When I was not spending time with my mother I spent it playing in the Castle courtyard.  I enjoyed acting out the roles of some of the characters my mother would read to me about in fairy tales.  I remember that when I was around five I used to pick up the remains of a tree branch that had fallen on the ground and pretended that it was a sword.  I was acting out the role of the knight who's job it was to slay the dragon and rescue the princess.  (Sometimes I wonder if such stories don't have some sort of a twist to the Christian saint, Saint George?)  Regardless of where the story came from, in the Castle courtyard there were some images of our family's royal insignia, the Dragon.  Well, the Dragon on the insignia was the Dragon that I was going to 'slay.'  So I'd pick up my large 'broad sword' and would strike the Dragon with it hoping to 'slay' him and rescue the damsel in distress.

     One afternoon I was busying attempting to 'slay' the dragon when my father happened to catch me striking the dragon with my 'sword.'  Not only was I surprised to see my father during the daytime I was even more surprised when he started to scold me for striking the dragon.  Apparently he viewed what I did to be disrespectful to our family's insignia, and told me never to do it again.  Of course, since I was only five and did not know any better I would continue to play the 'knight' and 'slay' the dragon; and eventually I got caught.  My father caught me again playing the role of the heroic 'knight' attempting to 'slay' the dragon, and when I noticed the glare in his cold dark eyes my small legs and tiny lips began to quiver.  He ordered me to come to him, but unlike the 'heroic knight' I was supposed to be playing I acted like Lysander, Alcander, and every other small child when their parents are angry with them…I tried to run away.  Note the word 'tried.'  Lysander and Alcander may try to run away from me when I'm angry with them, but—as in the case of my father and me—I always catch them.  My father swooped me under his arm, turned me over his knee, and swatted me a number of times.  My father disciplined me, much the same as I discipline my own children, but he never went too far when it came to teaching me a lesson.  Father was trying to teach me that I should respect our family's history, and when I went crying to my mother she backed my father's judgement over what he did since he was trying to teach me a lesson and I wasn't physically hurt in the process.

     As I said before, it was a rare occurrence when I saw my father during the day.  Typically I would embrace him whenever I saw before dark, since it was usually a special occasion; but one day I did not do this, and I listened in on a conversation he was having with my mother.  The conversation consisted of Mother wanting to take me to visit her parents.  Father was against the idea of Mother and I leaving the Castle, because he feared of what might happen to us.  Some would probably assume that Father was afraid that if Mother and me left the Castle we would never return, but no, this was not the case. 

     Mother and I had left the Castle before.  When I was around three my mother told my father that if I was ever to have some social abilities with others I was going to have to learn them by being around other children my own age.  Father understood my mother's point, and so every other day Mother and I would go to the park in the village below the Castle so I could play with children from the village.  However, Father was very cautious about what the villagers might do to us if they knew that we were his wife and son.  Father knew that Mother could hide the truth about our relationship to him, but what about me?  Anyone who has small children knows that they will blurt out embarrassing information about you and think nothing of it.  My sons do it all the time.  They do not understand how some things are best left unknown.  Because of this, Mother thought of a plan to put my father at ease.  If I were to ever accidentally mention that we live in a large Castle, or that our last name was Tepes, Mother would reply that she and I were the wife and son of Vlad Tepes but not the 'Impaler.'  My father was not the only member of the Tepes family who held the name 'Vlad,' but the use of referring to him as the 'Impaler' distinguished him from another Vlad in the family.  Obviously the idea worked, because otherwise I doubt I would be here to write this.

     But in regards to the conversation that Father had with my mother centuries ago.  I may have been only five, but I can still remember the essence of what was said.  I remember that Father felt sympathy for Mother wanting to take me to visit her parents, but he also found the plan foolhardy.  Apparently my mother had not visited her parents for over six years, and for her just to show up at their doorstep with a child would obviously result in a lot of questions.  Father was afraid that even if Mother said that I was the son of Vlad 'not the Impaler' Tepes that it would only result in them wanting to visit us at the Castle, and how exactly was Mother going to do that?

     I remember that Mother's answer to that question completely shocked my father.  Mother told him that she was going to in fact be forthcoming and honest with her parents.  In other words, she was going to tell them exactly who he was!  Father thought that such an idea was suicide.  He believed that to do so would result in the Orthodox Church forming a witch-hunt to kill all three of us.  Mother, however, told him that, that would never happen.  She said that her parents were not like that and that they could accept him for what he was.  I can still remember Father not being completely sold on the entire idea, but he simply could not refuse my mother's enthusiasm so he reluctantly agreed.

     The trip to my grandparents' residence took about two days.  I remember that on the day I was to visit them my mother dressed me up in what was considered very formal for the time, but something that I would be against Maria dressing Lysander or Alcander in.  I remember that my grandparents had a small farm, because my grandfather was attending to the cattle in the field when he noticed Mother and me approaching his residence.  The exchange between my grandfather and my mother was similar to the story of the prodigal son from the New Testament with the only difference being that my mother was female.  But the whole idea of 'my daughter who was once dead has come back alive' was very much the theme of my grandfather. 

     I can still remember that after my grandfather shouted for joy that his daughter had come home alive that he looked down at me for the first time.  His gaze frightened me slightly, and I hid for protection behind my mother.  "Who is that with you, Lisa?" he asked.

     "This is my son, Adrian," she told him; and then she asked me to say hello to him.  I did, but I was very shy about doing so; but then he smiled at me, and I started to trust him more.

     Eventually all of us went inside.  My grandmother acted the same as my grandfather, as would be expected, once she saw her daughter again; and she was similar in attitude towards me as well.  We sat at the kitchen table, and my grandparents asked my mother to tell the story about what had happened to her over six years ago.

     Mother told them about her run in with Vlad Tepes, and when she informed them that she was indeed speaking of the 'Impaler' Vlad Tepes both my grandparents made a gesture that I saw for the first time in my life.  My grandparents took their hand and placed it on their forehead, their sternum, and finally across their chest—the sign of the cross.  I did not understand the gesture, but I could tell that it had something to do with protection.

     Mother continued, but when she spoke about my father she did not describe him as this evil monster that they had heard about—that is of course that he might be a vampire.  Obviously by referring to him in the present tense my Mother let it be known to my parents of exactly what Father was, since everyone in the country knew that he was killed in a military battle some time before I was born. 

     Although I did not understand a lot of what was being said at the time I was starting to become very uncomfortable with my grandparents.  The way that they looked at Mother and me after she told them about my father filled me with dread, but it was not until the moment that she told them that I was the son of a union between Vlad the Impaler and herself that the trouble started.

     After that was declared my grandmother shouted, "What?!  You've brought a demon into our house!"

     I did not understand what she meant.  A demon?  How exactly was I a demon?

     My mother did her best to try and explain the situation to her parents, but they would hear nothing of it.  My grandfather at one point grabbed a cross and struck me over the head with it.  I started screaming, and blood began to pour from my temple.  The cross itself did not hurt me, but the force of my grandfather striking it against my young skull certainly did.  It is probably a miracle that he did not kill me. 

    My mother screeched too, as she quickly lifted me up into her arms and charged out the front door.  Through those cries I heard my grandfather exclaim that neither of us were ever wanted in his premises again, because "your mother and I want nothing to do with Satanists!"  Well, I can tell you that my mother was never a Satanist, and I was too young to even have an understanding of what a Satanist was.

     Mother and I were both lucky that her father decided not to run after us with a gun or anything like that, because both of us probably would have been killed.  I suppose if my grandfather did anything right that day it was to allow his daughter to leave without sending a mob after her.  My mother returned to the Castle in tears.  My father did his best to comfort her, but at the same time he did warn her that this is exactly what would happen.


	4. Loneliness

_To say there are strangers who threaten us,  
in our immigrants and infidels.  
They say there is strangers too dangerous,  
in our theaters and bookstore shelves.  
Those who know what's best for us,  
must rise and save us from ourselves.  
Quick to judge, quick to anger, slow to understand.  
Ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand-  
_"Witch Hunt"-Rush

Loneliness 

     When I turned thirteen I suffered my first real case of loneliness, but it was not from some relationship with a girl; it was from the loss of my mother.  My mother was taken away from me because of her good heart and the ignorance of men.  Whenever Mother would visit the village below the Castle she would often hear about a particular villager who was very sick.  She would inquire what was wrong with this person, and inform their family members that perhaps she could help them.  When she returned home to the Castle she would take some of the herbs from the grounds of the Castle and create a remedy.  Unfortunately the Church seemed to have a problem with that.  Their paranoia that anything they did not understand was witchcraft resulted in Mother being seized by a mob one day.  As I understood it a few years later, she was presented to the parish priest, who declared her to be a witch, and that she should suffer death for trying to help people. 

     (With that in mind, I have a question I would like to ask all the patriarchs, bishops, priests, and deacons within the Church.  Would you please explain to me how someone trying to sincerely help people is a witch?  Mother was not sitting around some Satanic altar chanting praises to the Devil and calling for his help to make potions!  She was using herbs from the ground for God's sake!  Furthermore, she was trying to help people; but you accused her of being a witch!  Your Jesus was accused of casting out devils in the name of Beelzebub, but He responded the scribes and Pharisees by asking them how can Satan cast out Satan?  With that in mind if my mother was an agent of the Devil wouldn't she have actually tried to hurt those people rather than help them?  You stupid Church leaders!  Why do you have to act so hateful to things you cannot understand, when you are called to a message of peace by your God?) 

     All right, let me be fair and state that none of the Orthodox Church leaders today are responsible for what happened to my mother; and my brother-in-law, an Orthodox priest, offered me an apology for what happened.  So did my friend, the late Father Miceadu, but all that forgiveness was too late for my mother.

     That evening when Mother was late arriving home my father started to worry.  She was usually always back at the Castle at a specific time, and when that specific time passed and she was still not in hours later, Father decided to venture into town.

     When he arrived he noticed the smell of burning flesh in the air, and entering the village-square he was met with the terrible shock of seeing my mother's corpse.  Mother was burned at the stake, typical of Church punishment for witches.  Father would not have recognized her if it was not for the necklace that was around the corpse's neck.  He immediately broke down and cried, but some particular villager, a drunk, noticed his grief and took exception.  He said that my mother was a witch, and it was in accordance with the will of God that she be put to death.  The citizen's comment filled my father with the rage of an angry beast.  I do not know exactly what he did except that he told me eventually that the villager would never say another cruel word about my mother again.

     The loss was not any easier for me.  I remember waiting at the Castle's entrance for Father to return with my mother. 

     When Father did eventually return and Mother was not at his side I asked him, "Where's Mother, Father?"

     Father began to cry.  I had never known him to cry…ever.  Now I became very worried.  "She's no more, Adrian.  Those bastards in the village took her life from her.  All she did was try to help them, but they accused her of defying the will of God.  That's all God ever does to people!  Lisa did nothing but help those people, but now God took her away from us!"

     I too broke down and cried.  My father took me into his arms, and did his best to comfort me, as I did my best to comfort him; but I could say nothing.  My mother was gone, and was never coming back.  The best way I can explain how my mother's loss affected me would be to use my two-year-old as an example.  Whenever Maria is away for a significant amount of time Alcander will begin to cry for her to return.  Of course when Maria finally returns he is a happy baby once again.  My mother was never coming back.  And I may not have been a baby anymore, but that certainly did not stop me from crying like one.

     When I finally regained my composure I asked, "Father, why did God take Mother away from us?"  My father sneered at the question.  That is when he told me everything about his relationship with God.  He told me about defending the Church from the threat of Islam, but how God rewarded him with taking away his wife at the time.  He said that he was starting to feel happy once again, but God had to take away his joy just to spite him.  Furthermore, he added that he wished he could travel to Jerusalem just so he could spit on the ground Jesus Christ walked on.

     My take on all this was fear.  I never saw my father so filled with hate.  He REALLY detests God to the point that it is frightening, but my look on God at the time was much different.  I honestly did not know very much about the teachings of Christianity, except that I understood the concept that God was Triune, and that Jesus Christ was the second person of this Trinity.  I also knew that this same God (Jesus Christ) came down to earth in the form of man to redeem the world by dying on a cross.  My mother had always taught me never to hate people, because sometimes they could not help being who they are.  She taught me this lesson after the terrible incident with her parents when I was still a boy. 

     Because God, or who I understood God to be, came to earth in the form of man I simply could not hate God based on the lesson that my mother taught me, but at the same time I was not exactly happy with my mother's death.  There were times throughout my youth that I would look up at the sky and shout in anger to the heavens.  I was yelling at God; asking him, why did he take my mother away from me?  What is so sad about all of this is that if it was not for that mob it is very possible that my father would have undergone the ancient Christian blessing that I did to remove the vampire curse.  If that had happened the legend of Vlad the Impaler would have been simply that, a legend.

     __


	5. Adrian's First Love

_In the misty morning, on the edge of time.  
We've lost the rising sun, a final sign.  
As the misty morning rolls to die,  
reaching for the stars we blind the sky.  
Oh!  Hmm…  
We sail across the air before we learned to fly.  
We thought that it could never end.  
We'd glide above the ground before we learned to run, run.  
Now it seems our world has come undone.  
Oh, they say that it's over,  
and it just has to be.  
Oh, they say that it's over,  
we're lost children of the sea_-

"Children of the Sea"-Black Sabbath

Relationships

     After the loss of my mother I began to spend more time with my father, who had decided to re-christen me with the name, 'Alucard.'  One of his nicknames spelled backwards.  It was through my father that I was able to understand the vampiric abilities I was born with.  They had always been there, of course, but I had never used them.

     I can still remember the first time I used my abilities to morph my body into a wolf.  I had just turned fourteen, and my father decided to teach me the ability to morph into such a creature.  The secret, he said, was to allow your brain to think 'wolf' and that is the creature you can become.  Although it sounds easy, it is actually quite difficult.  To morph into a wolf the mind must be completely away from other thoughts, and be thinking solely on becoming a wolf.  The technique my father used was to make a pair of fists and place them in front of his eyes, so he could see nothing else, and then he would think 'wolf, wolf' until the transformation occurs.  The ability to transform does not occur right away.  Like all other things in life, it takes practice.

     Unfortunately, whenever I used the abilities of the vampire I would suffer one consequence.  Vampires must feed on the blood of the living to survive.  When I transformed my body into a wolf, mist, or whatever I developed what I call a 'blood lust.' 

     After the loss of my mother, my father felt no shame in feasting on the blood of the living (although he would do so regardless of whether or not he morphed), though he preferred the blood of women over men, which is due to his sexual nature; but I, however, could not do such a thing.  Take for example the villagers below the Castle.  Some of those young girls were girls I played with when my mother used to take me into the village when I was a boy.  I simply could not drain their life, so when I happened to encounter this 'blood lust' I would often try to find a rabbit or some other kind of animal to drain.  My diet consisted of foods that normal people eat.  My father would have preferred that I feed as he did, but he let me eat as I chose, although I had to prepare it myself.

     But despite the vampiric nature that was beginning to take its place in my body there was another desire that I felt, and that desire was to be with the opposite sex.  As a teenager I considered myself to have been a fairly good-looking young man.  I was fairly tall for that time with blonde hair, brown eyes, and a well-defined body; but I was also quite shy.  I could talk to a woman as a friend, but nothing more, even though I wanted there to be more.

     My father was aware of this, so he arranged a girl for me against her own will.  In other words, he kidnapped a young woman and brought her to me.  Her name was Sylvia.  She was, next to my mother at the time, the most beautiful woman that I had ever laid eyes upon.  She had a petite frame, pretty breasts, a wonderful backside, and an adorable face with brown eyes; but what stood out the most was her fiery red hair.  But despite how beautiful she was she was absolutely terrified.  Terrified not about me perhaps, but rather my father.  She was only 15 and had never been away from home before—let alone kidnapped by a vampire.  I was 16, and had never known a woman.

     When my father had left us alone she started crying to me, and begged me to help her escape the Castle.  Now I honestly could have had my way with her, and could have raped her on my bed had I chosen to do so, but the words of a powerful woman stopped me from doing so.

     I first became attracted to women when I was 12.  My mother was still alive, and she noticed the attraction that I began to feel towards the opposite sex.  One evening she sat me down and talked to me about this issue.  She told me that the best relationship to have was one that held true love, and that only then should I engage in sex.  Regardless of that, Sylvia was brought to the Castle against her will.

     "We have to wait until the time is right," I told her, "and then I shall do whatever I can to help you escape."

     "Won't he hurt you?" she asked me.

     "He may, but I'm strong and can handle whatever it is that he throws at me."

     The fact that I was willing to take what would be a severe beating from my father for her freedom brought a spark of interest into her eyes, or at least I thought so at the time.  Unfortunately for her, I honestly had no idea how I could help her escape the Castle.  After the death of my mother, my father had conjured up monsters to defend the Castle in case a vampire slayer had decided to try and kill him.  For me to simply escort her out of the Castle would have been absolutely impossible.  So, with that in mind, I decided that I would do my best to try and comfort her.

     To cheer her up I would find flowers from the grounds outside the Castle.  Flowers no longer grew in the courtyard after the death of my mother.  Sometimes they would even wilt when they came within contact of the Castle, but fortunately the tulips that I found did not. 

     I remember that when I came to visit her with the flowers she was very apprehensive when I first entered the room.  Probably because at first she suspected that it might have been my father.  But when she noticed that it was me, she smiled. 

     "Here," I said, presenting her the flowers.  "I thought that these might cheer you up some.  I picked them from the grounds outside the Castle, because they happened to make me think of you."

     "How so?" she inquired.

     "It's your red hair.  The tulips are red, and they match your red hair.  I just thought it was the natural thing to do."

     She smiled at me and replied, "Thank you Alucard."

     "No, please do not call me that."

     "But why?  Isn't that your name?"

     "No, my real name's Adrian.  Please refer to me as that."

     She smiled, and added before sniffing the flowers, "Thank you very much, Adrian."

     Eventually we became more open with one another.  I gave her the name 'Flame' based on her red hair, which she seemed to admire.  My father promised that she would be protected on his grounds from all the monsters in the Castle, so occasionally we would venture into the Castle courtyard together.  I would show her where I used to play as a child, and we would climb a tree and relax against the same branch that Mother and me did when I was a little boy.  One night we were reclining against this same branch, while talking in whisper, lest some of my father's minions overhear our conversation.  But it was on this night when she asked me a question that left me stunned and almost speechless.

     "Adrian, do you remember the first day that I was brought to the Castle and I asked you to help me escape?"

     "Yes, I do, and let me apologize for being unable to fulfill the promise that I made to you that day."

     "Think nothing of that for now, but I do have something that I want to ask you regarding that moment that you can finally help me escape."

     "Yes?"

     "Adrian, whenever you can help me leave this place, will you stay with me?"

     I honestly had no idea how to respond to such a question, as it was not one I was expecting.  The Castle had been my home, so I felt some attachment to it, but it was not a home that I cared much for anymore.  It was not the home I enjoyed living in as a boy.  My mother was gone, and my father had morphed into a monster under the influence of the Devil.

     Flame's brown eyes became locked with my brown eyes.  She smiled at me, and I smiled back while stroking her red hair.  Finally, I said, "Yes."

     She hugged me, and I held her close.  Then she looked into my eyes again, and with a smile presented me with a kiss.  This was the first kiss I had ever received in my life.  I did not exactly know what to think except that it was a good feeling.  Flame and I shared a kiss everyday since that night in the tree, but if I was to know the dangers of what one kiss could do I would have never kissed her again.

     One evening Flame and I were embracing each other and kissing, but our kisses began to turn into a more lustful desire.  She began to undress and slowly remove her corset.  For a moment I thought again about what my mother said regarding sex, but I rationalized that I really loved Flame, and to be honest, I believed that I did.  I joined her in stripping myself of my clothes before placing her on my bed.

     Flame, however, had never known man before, but then again, I had never known woman before.  My male instincts told me what to do, but after I penetrated her enough blood began to show from her once virgin vagina.  I saw the blood and something came over me.  I do not quite understand how it happened, but I felt the curse of 'blood lust.'

     The sight of Flame's blood somehow brought a lust for blood into my mind.  I exposed my fangs and began to feast on her blood.  She prayed for me to stop, but I could not.  The 'blood lust' had taken over me.  There was nothing I could do.  Although this event in my life happened centuries ago it is still very difficult for me to write about.

     …I killed her.  Just as plain and as simple as that.  The vampiric blood that ran through my veins took control and I could not stop it.  I broke down and cried.  I probably cried as hard as the day I heard my mother died.  I wrapped my bed sheet over Flame's body, and gently placed her head against my pillow.  I did not want to leave her side.

     When my father finally arrived he examined the scene.  Finally, he called in one of his henchmen and told him to "remove the body."

     "No!" I screamed, as I tried to throw myself over Flame's body before Father shot me down with a powerful right cross.

     I covered my cheek with my hand, while my father leaned over me.  "These things just happen Alucard.  You just need to get over it and move on.  Don't worry, I'll find you another woman."

     "Damn it I don't want another woman!  I just want Flame!"

     "Well, it's a little too late for that since you killed her.  But don't despair my son.  I'll find you another woman."

     "Aren't you listening to me?!  I don't want another woman!  I want Flame!"

     "And I thought I told you a few minutes ago that she's dead!  Damn it, Alucard, women are a dime a dozen!"

     "How can you say that?!  Is that what you thought Mother was too?!  Just a 'dime a dozen'!"

     His dark eyes glared at me after that comment, and he cross his arms over his chest, attempting to display his power over me, but he was silent.

     "And I don't want you to bring me another woman.  That's kidnapping and I know Mother wouldn't approve of it!"  Again he said nothing.  He simply continued to glare at me.  "Furthermore, Father, I want nothing more to do with you!  I've had enough of your lifestyle, and it's through you that I'm partially cursed with it."

     "What're you going to do Alucard?" chuckled my father.  "Are you going to run to God for help?"

     "I'm not concerned with anything having to do with God, Father.  You have your own problems with God, so you can deal with them!  I'm going to lock myself away where I can never harm anybody else."

     "And how do you plan on doing that Alucard?"

     "I'll make myself fall asleep forever that's how."

     My father's glare increased with that comment.  "That I shall not allow Alucard."

     "I don't care, you can't stop me!"

     "You wish to challenge me on that subject?"

     I did not respond to my father's question.  Instead, I morphed into a wolf, and leapt from my bedroom window to the grounds below.  My father followed me, but fortunately, I was able to escape him.  I honestly have no idea how I was able to get away from him, but I remember that when I came to a secure location I heard my father yell that he would posses me again somehow.  I did not understand what he meant, and frankly, I did not have time to ponder on his words. 

     The secure location I entered was the remains of a small crypt.  The casket I stumbled upon had some remains in it, but I defied this man or woman's grave and used his or her casket as my own.  Looking back on it, maybe it was something that I should not have done, but that person was already dead and I was still alive.

     As I reclined in the coffin I closed my eyes and thought only of sleep—an ever deep sleep.  My eyes closed to the world, and would not open again until one year later when he arrived to disturb my sleep.


	6. Killing the Dragon

_Out beyond the new frontier.  
Playing God without mercy, without fear.  
Create a beast.  Made a man without a soul.  
Is it worth the risk?  A war of God and man_-

"New Frontier"- Iron Maiden

Killing the Dragon

     A most interesting party we were.  Two vampire hunters, a former pirate, and a half vampire, who was the son of the vampire we were trying to slay.  Trevor Belmont was our recognized leader.  Trevor informed me that his father, Leon Belmont, was an officer in Father's military.  He told me that after Father's wife's committed suicide in 1462 that Leon attempted to persuade Father not to take the path he was starting to follow.  Father, however, had no use for what Leon Belmont was telling him, and ordered his withdraw from the Castle.  Leon left Father's presence and settled far away from him, but upon leaving the Castle informed Father that if he was to truly rise from his death and harm the innocent he, or his descendents, would stop him.  I am actually amazed that Father did not try to have him assassinated after that statement given his attitude at the time.  He had no shame in killing anyone who threatened his existence.

     Leon Belmont was the first Belmont to use the whip in battle, and at a young age, Trevor had been taught the proper technique for how to use it.  This, ironically, is a tradition that all Belmont children have inherited ever since.  Trevor's descendent, Richter, informed me the other day that he plans to instruct his son Christian (who we sometimes playfully call 'Riff,' although he hates the childhood nickname) with the family's history of fighting the undead.  But despite all of Trevor's training I still did not understand how a whip could be effective against the undead.

     "The whip is blessed," Trevor told me.  Before he left Warakiya village he sought the aid of books on vampirism from the local monastery.  While he was studying the ancient legends he had his whip blessed by the abbot, and ever since that day the Belmont family whip has passed down from generation to generation.  Trevor was blessed with most of the abilities that would eventually pass to his descendent, Richter (and eventually to Christian I assume), but in terms of ability, Richter exceeds his ancestor.

     Sypha Belendes was an interesting character to me for two reasons. The first was the fact that she was a woman.  The typical role of women for that time (and is still the traditional role for them today) is to remain at home, take care of the children, and cook for the husband.  I understood women to have this role in society until I met her.  She may have indirectly been responsible for the relationship Maria and I have together, because Maria does more than take care of the children.  She can be a very formidable opponent in battle when challenged.

     Sypha was also blessed with a gift.  Through her prayers to God, He bestowed on her the gift of what we would essentially call 'magic.'  Yet it is through this gift of hers that I could not help but be reminded of my mother.  The Church did not persecute Sypha because of her unique ability that she claimed was given to her by God, yet my mother uses herbs to help people and she is considered a witch.  Sypha could have honestly been viewed more as a witch than my mother, but I suppose that because since declared that her power was a gift from God she was somehow exempt from persecution.

     Despite his small bulky legs, Grant DyNasty was the quickest of all of us.  His stealth made him especially deadly with his daggers.  Grant had the ability to sneak behind an enemy and cut their throat, but this was not his only ability.  Grant also had the ability to climb walls, or so it looked.  I am still not exactly sure how he was able to do this, but Grant could cling to a wall and scale it similar to how a rock climber climbs a mountain.  I asked him how he was able do such a thing and he told me it was based on how he cupped his hands.  He said that he would cup his hand to trap air and that it would allow him to remain attached to the wall for a few seconds, but this was a skill that left him extremely tired, because of the amount of energy he spent doing it.

     As for me, I was without my sword.  When I left my father in Castle Dracula I had left behind my mother's sword that she had given me shortly before her death.  Mother's sword had been in her family for generations, and her father had given it to her before she met my father, because she was their only child.  Mother possessed the sword when she met Father, although I am not exactly sure how she was able to carry such a thing.  The sword can be quite heavy, and Mother never struck me as a person who was strong enough to wield it; but nevertheless, it was in her possession when she met my father.

     For most of our journey I was armed with a small sword that I received from a fallen adversary.  The sword was worn down, and in need of repair.  I am actually surprised that it did not shatter against the full-plated armor worn by the demonic knights in the Castle, but it was certainly soaked in the blood of monsters by the time we reached my chambers.

     I had always hid Mother's sword in a small chest inside my bedroom closet, but I was afraid that while I was away for a year that Father found the sword and was now using it for his own purpose.  Fortunately he did not, and I had to ask Sypha to burn the lock free from the chest since I had no idea what had become of the key to the lock.  With my sword back in my possession I could confidently battle my father, despite how hard I knew it was going to be. 

     For our journey to and through the Castle, Father had summoned various minions to aid his cause.  These minions varied from the very weak to the very powerful, from the very intelligent to the very stupid.  The stupid minions were the easiest to fool.  Because of my presence some of them took my companions and me as allies, and allowed us safe passage.  The more intelligent minions, however, could tell that I was aiding the 'enemy', and they were more than ready to strike us down.  None of my father's minions should ever be taken lightly, but there was one I was definitely concerned about.

     While not exactly a minion, Death was an ally of my father's.  After living the last five years of my life in the human world, I have noticed that every person appears to have a different understanding of the Grim Reaper.  Some view him (although 'he' does not actually have a gender) as the Angel of Death—St. Michael—from the Bible.  Trust me, Death is not St. Michael.  St. Michael the Archangel would never work with my father, and my father would never work with him.

     Others view Death as a being that takes souls to Heaven or Hell.  Hell, perhaps; but Heaven?  No!  This view of Death results in a philosophical conflict from the real Death.

     And finally, others view Death as a neutral being, who works neither for good nor for ill.  Death is far from a neutral being, trust me.

     So what is Death then?  Death is an evil being with a black heart that has no shame giving his name (death) to those who challenge him; and he is usually my father's guardian.

     Death's chamber is a circular room, and is filled with very little light.  Death enjoys catching his victim by surprise, which is why he is often levitating on the ceiling in the darkest corner of the room when someone enters his chamber to challenge him.  I told my companions to look at the ceiling, because that was a favorite hiding spot of Death. 

     Through my gift (or curse) of vampirism I was able to locate Death quicker than any of my companions.  I shouted at the monster to come down and "face us!"

     He chuckled at me and declared, "You know me all too well Alucard."  When Death descended from the ceiling I remember Grant muttering the words "saints preserve us" while Sypha gave the Sign of the Cross.

     Death gave another bony chuckle before responding,  "I see that you have befriended mortals, Alucard.  Your mother's weaker side has become your predominate emotion."

     "My father was the same way until monsters like you and your master warped his mind!" I shouted.

     "Your father was always this way, Alucard.  It's just that your mother found a way to lessen his emotions, but deep down inside he was always willing to continue his war with God."

     "That's a lie and you know it!"

     "Is it indeed?" Death chuckled.  "Apparently you don't know your father very well."

    "I knew him before he morphed into the monster he has become."

     "And I've known him since before you were born!" Death shouted, as his bony fingers tightly griped his scythe.

     I followed Death's gesture by unsheathing my mother's sword and shouting, "I'll send you back to Hell!"  Trevor added to my statement by cracking his whip.

     Death flashed a grin.  "Oh, but you can't want me to go back there yet.  I still have so much to do here."

     "Your mission ends here now Death!"

     "We shall see won't we Alucard?" glared Death.

     Death charged first at me with his scythe, but I was quick to dodge and present him with a sharp slash of my blade to his rib cage.  The monster snarled, but was quick to recover as he slashed his blade against my torso.  Fortunately I was wearing some protective armor, and my ability as a partial vampire at that time allowed me to heal rather quickly.

     Grant attacked Death by hurling his dagger while clinging to the wall.  Unfortunately, Grant never had a proper grip on the wall, which may have been due to sweat on his palms.  The attack was a failure.  Death was able to parry-and-dodge the dagger away by using his scythe, and in the process was able to put a good slice on Trevor's arm.  (Richter told me a few years ago when I told him about this incident that there was a family legend that Trevor had a scare on his arm, possibly from this incident).  

     Sypha kept her distance from the rest of the party with her hands cupped together in prayer.  Although I was in the heat of the battle, and sweat was descending from my forehead, I was able to catch some of Sypha's prayer.  She was asking God to use her as an instrument of His power against Death.  God answered Sypha's prayer with a flame.  Death screeched as though he was a poor soul burning in Hell.  Sypha's attack was the most powerful against Death, but it would be Trevor who delivered the fatal blow.

     With his arm severely cut, and sweat dripping into his eyes (probably making his vision blurry), Trevor found the endurance to make one more attack.  Trevor cracked his whip, and scored a perfect shot into the monster's bony throat.  I could tell by his body language that Trevor was using all the power he had on this attack, and he succeeded.  The monster fell back, losing his scythe in the process; but Trevor was quick to follow up on that attack, as were Grant and I.

     Trevor raised a dagger that had the image of the crucified Christ on it, and stabbed the object into the monster's throat.  I followed Trevor's move by jamming my sword next to Trevor's crucifix dagger, and Grant added to our success by doing the same with his dagger.  Eventually the beast crumbled into a sulfurous ash, but the toughest challenge was still to come.  Trevor tied a bandage around his arm as he was well aware that our next battle would be against the Lord of the Castle.  Prince Vlad Tepes himself!  My own father!

     Castle Dracula has been known to change shape every time it has been reborn, but one portion of it always remains the same.  The master throne room, Father's chamber, always remains unchanged.  Father's throne room is located at the very top of the Castle—the sixth floor.  Along the walls are images of our family's insignia, the dragon, and a portrait of my father from his breathing days.

     In the center of the master's throne room sits my father on his throne with a large red dragon spreading its wings behind the throne.  I remember that on this night a cool breeze blew through the throne room, and Father's cold-dark hair blew with it.  His dark eyes glared at all of us, but his eyes seemed to pay more attention to me than any other member of the party.

     "So Alucard," he says, "I see that you have brought these men here to kill me."

     "I would've been here to kill you regardless of him!" shouted Grant.  "My wife and unborn child never had the opportunity to experience the fullness of life because of you!"

     "Your pregnant wife was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I'm sorry about what happened to her, but life isn't always fair."

     If smoke could come out of a person's ears it would have been coming out of Grant's after that statement.  "You bloody bastard!  I swear to God above that I'll ram my dagger right through your heart!"

     "It's never wise to swear to Heaven my dear friend.  Besides, God doesn't always answer the requests of His children."  Grant's fists were shaking with every word uttered by my father, but Father appeared no longer interested in Grant and turned his attention to Sphya.

     "Ah, you were the slayer who spent some time as a statue.  I see that you have apparently broken free, but I'm wondering if you deserve death or a return to that state?"

     "The only state I deserve is to watch you burn in the fires of Hell!" shouted Sphya.  "And with God's help I swear that I will send you there!"

     Father chuckled.  "Once again another person calling on the help of God.  I can promise you my dear lady, you'll find no God here."

     Finally, Father turned to Trevor.  "And who might you be?"

     "I'm Trevor Belmont," he declared full of courage; "the son of Leon Belmont.  Does that name sound familiar to you?"

     Father gasped at the name 'Leon Belmont.'  "So Leon's promise to me long ago has taken form.  Tell me, how's Leon?"

     "Waiting at home for me to tell him that I drove that stake through your heart."

     "Well, my dear Belmont, I'm afraid the only person who's going to see Leon next is me!  I'm afraid that I shall be the one to tell him that his son is no more, and then I'll do to him what I should've done thirty-three years ago."

     At Father's statement, Trevor cracked his whip.  "Ah, Leon's whip.  It's been years since I've seen it.  Seeing it makes me think of Leon.  I suppose that you're going to use it against me.  Too bad that it can't…"

     Father did not have the chance to finish his sentence as Trevor cracked the whip into his arm.  He snarled and shook his arm free of the pain before looking at Trevor baffled.  "But…how?  A whip has no power over me!?"

     "This whip was blessed by a priest in the Church of Jesus," informed Trevor.  "A Church which you've sought to destroy for the last thirty-three years, but now through the power of that same God you'll be brought to your knees."

     "I kneeled once to God.  I'll never kneel to Him again!" snarled Father, before raising his arm to cast a powerful flame from the floor against us.  I was amazed by Father's power!  I knew that he was powerful, but I had no idea until I actually saw it with my own eyes!  All of us safely escaped the flames, but we were caught off guard by the attack.

     We fell back, and Father continued to use the same attack against us.  The heat of the flames brought sweat to our brows and prevented us from receiving a clear attack.  "Everyone," whispered Grant, "I believe that I may have an idea."

     "What is it?" asked Trevor, who was doing his best (along with all of us) to dodge the attack.

     "Can you keep Dracula occupied for a while?"

     Trevor rolled out of the way of another blast of fire before saying, "I don't think that'll be much of a problem."

     I had an idea of what Grant was going to do, but I feared that he might not be able to pull it off.  My assumption turned out to be correct.  Grant was going to attempt to cut Father's throat while we kept him busy, but tragically so was my other prediction.  Father's flames were simply too much, and when Grant attempted to use his stealth a blast of fire caught him.  The fire did not completely catch him, other wise he would have suffered an instant death, but it did catch him enough to knock him back.  Grant landed hard on his back, and I could tell that the fall had knocked him unconscious.  At the sight of my fallen comrade I knew that I had to do something.  Fortunately, like Grant, I was rather quick on my feet as well; and I hastily grabbed him and pulled him away from the flames before another blast would have caught him, and obviously killed him.  Because Sypha was blessed with the gift of 'magic' I asked her to look after Grant.  I was hoping that perhaps through her prayers God could use her as an instrument to heal him.

     "Well, I guess that it's just you and me Alucard," replied Trevor, as he dodged another blast of fire.

     "Yes, I guess so," I added, while dodging a blast along side him.

     "Alucard!" shouted my father, as he magnificently stood by his throne using the same attack against us.  "Why do you continue to help these humans?  Surely you realize that I'm too powerful for any of you?  Are you doing this because of your mother?"

     The moment my father mentioned my mother my face became like one set on thunder.  I noticed that Trevor kept a bottle of holy water at his belt.  Hastily I snatched the bottle of holy water from Trevor's belt and threw it at my father.  The bottle shattered, and some of its contents sprinkled on my father.  He fell back, and the flames ceased.  I glared at him and said, "You're damn right I'm doing this because of my mother!  My mother would never approve of anything you're doing!  You're not the man she once loved!"

     "You fool!" Father shouted.  "Have you forgotten that humans are responsible for the death of your mother?  And yet you're allying yourself with them?!"

     I gestured my hand to my friends who were around me.  "You know damn well that these humans aren't responsible for Mother's death!"

     "It doesn't matter!  They're all alike!  They would've burned her at that stake just like those from the village below us!"

     "I don't know that and neither do you!  But I do know one thing.  Mother taught me after the incident with her parents long ago that I shouldn't hate people, because sometimes they can't help being who they are and that not all people are bad.  Trevor, Grant, and Sypha are not bad people.  They've helped me, and I've helped them!  And I would follow them into the depths of Hell if necessary!"

     By now Father was back to a vertical base after feeling the affects of the holy water.  "You're an absolute moron!" he shouted.  "You're no longer even worthy to be called my son!"

     "That's fine!  I'll be just as happy being known as the son of Lisa Tepes!  But as for you Father, you've tortured the countryside of Wallachia for too long!  Today you die Father!"

     "Heh, you go ahead and try…" but I would not allow him to finish his sentence.  Wielding my sword I struck him with a powerful blow into his side, which was immediately followed by the crack of Trevor's whip.

     Father again fell back, and retreated behind his throne.  "Are you going to hide behind your throne Father, or are you going to face me?"  Father snarled from behind his throne, and while he was there I could hear him unsheathe his sword.  He leapt from behind the throne with a war cry and attempted to thrust his sword into my body.  I parried his attack, but again I felt my father's strength and it was incredible!  If my palms had been too sweaty I would have easily lost my grip on the sword.  But I did not lose my grip, and because my father was now spending his time concentrating on killing me he forgot that I had three other vampire hunters around me.  Sypha's prayer to God had been answered, and Grant was back on his feet again.  Trevor was already poised and waiting for the proper moment to strike.  Eventually that moment came in the form of a four-way attack.

     Father's eyes were locked too tightly on mine that he never noticed Trevor raising a crucifix and stamping it against his forehead.  Father screeched and dropped his sword, and when that happened he suffered a blow from my sword on his shoulder.  I could tell that Father was about to snarl from the affects of my sword, but he never found the time because immediately Grant snuck up behind him and cut his throat.  Blood poured from my father's throat, and although I hated him at this moment (especially after he declared I was no longer worthy to be called his son) I began to feel some pity for him as I watched him grab his throat and stagger around the throne room, while the dark blood poured from his neck.  I became so caught up in my father's suffering that I did not notice the ball of fire that was exiting Sypha's hands.  I am sure that the blast would have caught me as well, had it not been for Trevor lunging at me and forcing me out of the way.

     The blast struck my father at full force.  He fell to the floor, with his back arched up against his throne.  He sat there motionless until Grant plunged his dagger into his heart and he let out a slight groan before shutting his eyes for good.

     Almost immediately after Grant's dagger pierced Father's heart the Castle started to make a rumbling sound similar to an earthquake.  "What's going on here?" I asked.

     "The Castle's falling apart," replied Trevor.  "Apparently Prince Vlad's existence has been tied in with the Castle.  With its master dead the Castle can no longer stand.  We must flee quickly!"

     Trevor never had to say it twice.  We hastily regained our composure, and charged from the throne room to eventually the exit of the Castle; but before I ran down those stairs I took a moment to look back at my father.  He remained in the same position with Grant's blade still pierced in his heart.  The roof of the throne room began to fall around his body.  He may have become a monster but he was still my father, and I could not help but shed a tear.

     We swiftly exited the Castle.  Fortunately for us, once Father was dead his monsters died with him, so we never had to fight any more battles.  We watched the last of the Castle fall from a hilltop that overlooked it.  Tears were gently streaming down my face.  At first only Sypha understood why, but Grant and Trevor soon understood as well. 

     While the Castle had morphed into a place of evil it had not always been that way.  That Castle was my childhood home.  All my childhood memories, such as 'slaying' the dragon and playing with my mother, took place inside its walls.  I could not help but cry just a little, but in 1495 when you are seventeen you are supposed to be a man, so I did my best to cease crying.

     "So…is it over?" asked Grant.

     "Yes," I replied in a husky voice, while wiping a final tear from my eye; "it's over."

     "Wallachia's now forever free from the reign of Vlad the Impaler," replied Syhpa.

     "Don't you think we ought to pray?" asked Trevor.  I chose not to pray, but I did observe the three of them in prayer.  They thanked God for His grace against Dracula, and they also thanked St. Michael the Archangel for his prayers in Heaven on their behalf.

     After they closed with the Sign of the Cross Syhpa said, "I wonder what we're all going to do now?  We've been with each other for quite a while now, and now that our mission's over it will seem rather queer to return to normal life."

     "Well," Grant began, "I know that various parts of the countryside were damaged by Dracula.  I believe that I can spend my time helping those people rebuild their lives." 

     (I asked Richter a few years ago if he ever knew what became of Grant DyNasty.  He told me that Grant eventually became the mayor of a small community.  He married and had children, and for a long time both him and his descendents remained in contact with the Belmont family.  But one year a terrible famine fell into the area that the DyNasty family resided in.  Apparently most of Grant's descendents decided to leave their motherland and seek a better life in Western Europe, possibly France according to Richter.  Still the two families tried to remain close, but eventually communication between them stopped.  Richter said that he does not know where any of Grant's descendents currently live, but he would love to meet them if they are still out there.)

     "What about you Trevor?" asked Syhpa.

     "I'm going to return home to my village.  I want to start my life there."

     (Even to this day I can still remember the look that Syhpa gave to Trevor.  It was a look of affection.  I asked Richter if anything ever became of Syhpa and Trevor.  He told me that according to family history the two did share a slight romance, but nothing ever came from it, although they did remain friends.  Eventually Trevor married, or obviously Richter would not be here, and Syhpa did as well.  The descendents of both families are still in contact with one another.  I had the opportunity to meet Syhpa's descendent, Sara.  She reminds me of Syhpa a little bit, but I never told her that I knew her ancestor personally, because I only want a few people to know about my past.)

     Finally Trevor turned to me and asked, "What do you plan on doing Alucard?"

     I did not answer him at first.  I again turned to the remains of Castle Dracula.  A feeling of guilt began to enter my soul.  I had killed my father.  Yes, perhaps he had deserved death.  Yes, he declared that I was no longer worthy to be called his son, but he was still my father after all.  Then I began to think about Flame.  Could I ever find another woman whom I could love?  When I finally returned my attention to Trevor I said, "I don't belong in this world."

     He was stunned by my words.  "What do you mean?"

     "Trevor, my blood's cursed.  It would be better for this world if I was to leave it forever."

     "What're saying?" asked Grant.  "Are you saying that you're going to commit suicide?!"

     I shook my head.  "No, I'm going to return to the state I was in when you first met me."

     "You mean you're going to sleep again in a coffin?" asked Syhpa.

     "Yes," I replied nodding my head.  "That's exactly what I mean."

     "Well, Alucard, perhaps through the Church you could overcome the stain of vampirism that affects you."

     I sighed, and shook my head back to her.  "No, Syhpa, there's no cure for me.  It would be better off if I ceased to exist."  I looked at all of my companions.  They were all stunned by the decision I had made, but I believed at the time it was the best decision to make.  "I enjoyed our company very much, and I know that all of you will have a pleasant life.  But as for me I must leave my Wallachia behind me.  Farethewell, we'll not meet again."

     As I was walking away I heard Trevor's voice calling out my name.  I stopped to turn back to my party.  I presented all of them with a respectful bow, before turning to walk away for the final time.  I would never see any of them again, except in portraits, which even today can make me shed a tear.

     I returned to the same crypt that I was in when Trevor, Grant, and Sypha found me, only this time I decided to move the casket I previously slept in to a different area of the crypt.  The sun was bright over the Carpathians when I finally closed the lid for what I thought would be the final time, but the world is mysterious.  Eventually the lid of my casket would reopen, although it would take 302 years for it to do so.

  __


	7. Darkness and Light

_O God of Earth and altar,  
bow down and hear our cry.  
Our earthly rules falter.  
Our people drift and die.  
The walls of gold entomb us.  
The swords of scorn divide.  
Take not thy thunder from us,  
but take away our pride_-

G.K. Chesterson-English hymnal-

(from Iron Maiden's "Revelations")

Darkness and Light

     For the next three hundred years I lived in a world of dreams.  I dreamed about the happier times with my mother.  I dreamed about how she used to cuddle me on her lap, while she read fairy tales to me about heroic knights and wicked dragons.  I dreamed about my father as well, but in a more positive light.  My memories of him were when he was together with my mother in happier times.  Such as the evening I sneaked out of my room and caught them dancing under moonlight in the throne room.

     I thought about my companions Trevor, Sypha, and Grant.  I wondered what they were doing in the world where the young eventually grow old.  Perhaps Trevor and Sypha became lovers (although Richter told me that this was not to be).  And what was life for Grant, since he was now living a civilian lifestyle over a life on the Black Sea.

     Unfortunately, not all my dreams were happy ones.  My dreams about Flame were often depressing.  I took her life away from her.  I certainly did not mean to do so, but it happened nevertheless.  I remember this one dream in particular. 

     In this dream she was surrounded by light.  She may have been in Heaven, I really do not know; but her clothes were dazzling white.  Once again her red hair stood out to me, as it did in life.  She smiled at me, and I thought for a moment she was going to touch me; but it was at that moment that the dream changed.

     I began to see myself trapped in a pit.  I touched the walls around me and they were as smooth as glass.  I was trapped, and I feared to use my vampiric powers based on what happened to me with Flame.  Then my body began to sweat, and I smelled the foul odor of sulfurous ash under my feet.  "_What the hell is going on?" _I thought to myself, but all I could do was raise my eyes and look at Flame.  She was staring down at me, but the look on her face was rather queer.  She had this grin—a wicked grin—a look that she never wore in life.  I did not know what to think yet I called out her name.

     "Flame?"

     "Time for you to face justice Adrian Tepes," she replied.  Her voice sounded evil, unlike the sweet tempered voice that I remembered in life.

     "Flame I'm sorry about what happened.  It's all my fault."  I was almost ready to cry, but the look on Flame's face did not show an ounce of compassion.

     "And you deserve to burn for eternity for it!" she shouted back.

     "What's going on here?!  You're not Flame!  What kind of demon are you?!"  But my question was never answered.  The next thing I felt was the dampness of the casket.  I could see its stone covering, and I could see the gentle rays of the moon breaking through the tiny holes of the casket.  I was alive to the world of men once again.

     I suppose that I could have remained in the casket if I chose to do so, but something made me want to see the world again; so I exited the casket and steeped outside the crypt.  Due to the cool breeze in the air I could tell that it was wintertime.  I stared at the snow-covered peaks of the Carpathians. They had not changed since the last time I saw them, but one thing was definitely different…the Castle! It was back!  Did that mean…  I had to remember what Trevor said before we exited the Castle so long ago.  When the Castle was crumbling Trevor stated that the Castle was bound to its master and would stand as long as its master was alive.  For the Castle to be reborn that would have to mean that my father was somehow alive!

     If Father was alive that probably meant he was doing the Devil's business, and that was not something I was going to allow again.  I unsheathed my mother's family sword, and charged into the Castle, hoping to find the answers.

     When I first entered the Grand Hall I noticed that it was flowing with monsters.  The fact that monsters were present convinced me that Father was probably back.  I slashed through every monster that tried to block my path.  None of these particular creatures posed a major threat to me, but the figure I encountered after exiting the Grand Hall certainly made me gasp. 

     "Ah, Alucard," the monster began.  Flashing me his bony smile and powerful scythe.  "What brings you back home?"

     I swallowed a lump in my throat and my knees began to shake.  Death grinned at my body language, because he thought that I was terrified of him.  'Terrified' is not really the proper word to describe how I felt.  I was afraid, yes.  Who would not be?  But it was not as much the fact that I was afraid more than I was confused.

     "Are you afraid of me?" Death asked, as he continued to stare at me with the same grin.

     "You…" I began.  "What're you doing here?!  We killed you!  Trevor, Sypha, Grant, and I all killed you!"

     Death laughed.  "Killed me?  No, you may've defeated me, I'll grant you that.  But kill me?  No.  That you cannot do.  I'm immortal, Alucard, unlike Trevor, Sypha, and Grant who've been dead for centuries."

     "Centuries!?"

     "Yes, Alucard.  You last fought me in the Christian year of 1495, but over 300 years have passed.  This is the year 1797, but I believe that we can forget our old wounds can we not?"

     "What the hell's that supposed to mean?!"

     "Why don't you return to our side, Alucard?  Why don't you help your father accomplish his goal?  Quit thinking on your stupid human emotions!"

     "If I was to do that it would be the equivalent of throwing my mother's gift away," I declared, while tightening the grip on my sword.  I was sure that Death would soon attack me, and I had no idea how well I could do against him now.  The last time we battled I was not alone, but now I was alone.

     "Still befriending mortals I see.  I suppose that it was foolish for me to ask you to return to your father's side."

     "So he's back then?  As much as it hurt me to do so last time I'll make my way to the throne room and do battle with him again!"

     Death chuckled.  "Well, I believe that you may find the situation somewhat different this time."

     "What the hell's that supposed to mean?!"

     Death did not respond to my question.  He only laughed, and gestured his hand upward. His gesture forced me to lose my grip on my sword, as though a magnet was pulling it away from me.  "What the hell's going on?!  What happened to my sword?!"  But again Death did not respond.  He only laughed at me again, before levitating into the darkness.  I assumed that he was returning to his chamber.

     In any event I was without a sword, and only had my two hands to fight.  Fortunately being born with the strength of a vampire has its advantages, as I was able to fight off Father's weaker minions with my two hands, and was able to secure a sword by defeating a minion who carried one.

     Ironically my visit to the Castle would result in one of the biggest changes of my life, and it will be a moment that I will remember forever.  I was on the Castle's second floor when I saw her.  An absolutely beautiful woman with gorgeous blonde hair, bright sea-green eyes, porcelain face, perky breasts, petite waist, perfect backside, and long slender legs!  She was also wearing a short green blouse with matching top and a pair of stockings.  Women certainly did not dress this way in the late 15th century, but I did not care!   I must admit, however, that this was probably not how a woman should be dressed when they are in such a place as Castle Dracula (adding to the fact that I do not think she carried a weapon), but when I saw her I forgot that for a moment I was in Castle Dracula.

     Of course because she was so beautiful the shyness factor that I have had towards women started to come back.  I remember that when her green eyes locked with my brown eyes she did not know what to think of me.  "Who're you?" she asked, confused.  I do not believe that she expected to see another person inside the Castle.  "You seem human and yet…"

     She could not think of the next words to say, but I was slow to respond back, because all I could think about was how beautiful she was.  I had to swallow a lump in my throat before I could say the words, "…I've come to destroy this Castle."

     "Well then.  It appears that we're on the same side.  I'm Maria, and you are?"

     "…Alucard."  I was too scared to tell her my real name, so I chose to go by my nickname.

     "Not the talkative type I see," she added with a smile.  "Tell me Alucard, are you familiar with a man named Richter Belmont?"

     The name 'Belmont' threw me for just as much of a loop as Maria's beauty.  "…Of the Belmont family?"

     She nodded.

     "I'm familiar with the name, but…" my thoughts drifted back to Trevor, but obviously Trevor had been dead for centuries.

     "Well, Alucard," Maria continued, "Richter's my brother-in-law, and a few weeks ago he set off for Castle Dracula after he saw its return in the distance from his home.  If you see him please tell him that I'm searching for him."

     I nodded rather nervously and said, "Yes, Ma'am."

     "Thank you, and please give him this."  She walked over to me and placed a crucifix in my hand.  My knees started to shake a little; not because of the crucifix, but because of how close she was to me.

     I placed the crucifix in my pocket and replied, "I will."

     "Thank you again," she added, before she turned to walk away, but before she completely left the room she turned to face me again.  "And Alucard?"

     "Yes?"

     "Please, you don't have to be so nervous when you talk to me," she added with a smile—a smile that I saw once before—through the eyes of Flame!

     I found it ironic that I woke up at the same time that the Castle had returned even though it had returned quite a number of times before over the past three hundred years.  The last time was in 1792, but the return of the Castle in 1797 was the masterwork of a dark priest known as Shaft.  Shaft was once a priest in the Orthodox Church, but a mind-altering experience caused him to renounce his faith.  Because of this he was excommunicated and stripped of his pastoral duties.  Apparently Shaft took interest in the life of my father when he learned about Father's struggles with the Church.  The interest he took in my father's life somehow increased his interest to study the black arts, and through those arts he discovered how he could resurrect him.  Why exactly would anyone want to resurrect my father is a question that I simply cannot answer.

     As a citizen of Romania, Shaft was certainly aware of the Belmont family.  The descendents of Trevor Belmont had done battle with my father for over the last 300 years.  Richter Belmont was Trevor's current descendent. 

     When Father returned in 1792 he apparently wanted to strike fear into Richter's heart (who was only 19 at the time) by kidnapping Richter's then girlfriend, Annette, and her little sister, Maria.  In the end, however, it was Richter who triumphed over the prince.

     Not only was Shaft smart enough to resurrect the Castle he was also smart enough to cover other bases.  Shaft was aware that the return of the Castle would mark the return of Richter Belmont, but when Richter arrived he placed him under a spell that made Richter believe that he was the 'Lord' of Castle Dracula.

     It is because of all of this that I believe I was called out my dream world by some particular force that most men would call 'God.'  God, or whatever the force was, called me out of my dream world because there was no Belmont to defeat Father, and if there was no Belmont to defeat Father…well, I honestly do not know what the world would be like if such a situation was to exist. 

     I charged my way through the Castle, fighting off the familiar monsters of my father, but something seemed different this time from the last time I was in the Castle.  When I entered Death's chamber the monster was not present.  Death is usually the beast that guards my father and when he is not around something is not right.

     The throne room had not changed in the last 300 years, but when I arrived Richter Belmont, rather than my father, was waiting for me.  Richter was under Shaft's control, which made him unable to control his own actions.  He cracked his whip against me, and I dodged the blow.  I was still carrying the small sword that I secured from a defeated monster, but I did not want to use it against Richter.  Of course, I had to think of something.  I did not want to hurt Richter, but he was certainly trying to hurt me!

     I remembered years ago that when I was possessed by my father's control that Trevor used a piece of the Host to free me from Father's curse.  I did not have a piece of the Host, but I did have the crucifix that Maria gave me. 

     When Richter attempted to strike me again I raised the crucifix before his eyes.  Richter recoiled, as though he were a vampire.  He fell to the ground, and I stamped the icon into his forehead.  Richter let out a scream, but I could feel Shaft's power leaving his body; he was free!

     No sooner had I freed Richter that Maria came from behind me shouting "Richter!"

     Richter of course was in a great deal of pain.  Maria took his head and placed it against his bosom, which was where I wanted to place my head.  Richter let out a groan and asked, "What happened?"

     "You were possessed," I told him.

     "I was?  Really…" Richter was still confused when he asked Maria what was going on.

     "You left your house two weeks ago.  When you never came back Ann started to worry, and I entered the Castle to look for you."

     "Maria you never should've done that!  You could've been killed this is no place for a woman!"

     "Excuse me, Richter, but I believe that I actually did quite well for myself!"

     Richter prepared to respond to her, but I interrupted him before he had the chance.  "She's right by the way."  Maria looked up at me and smiled.  "She did quite well for herself in a place that many who come here never leave."

     Richter looked at me again, utterly confused by what I had just told him.  "Who're you, sir?"

     "My name is Alucard.  …Alucard Tepes."

     "Tepes?!" both of them screeched at the same time.

     I nodded.

     "Wait!" Richter began.  "I heard that when my ancestor, Trevor Belmont, fought Dracula 300 years ago he was aided by the son of Dracula and a human woman whose name was Alucard."

     I nodded my head again, and added the words that shocked both of them.  "I am he."

     "What?!" the two of them gasped.

     "I'm sorry, but I don't have time to explain.  I know that my father's still out there, and I know that Death's with him."

     "But he's not here in the throne room," replied Richter.

     "No, he's not," I responded, thinking to myself about how queer all of this felt.

     "Hey!" Maria exclaimed.  "What's that?"

     She was pointing to a castle window.  Something did indeed appear to be outside.  Maria and I assisted Richter to his feet and the three of us walked over to the window together.

     Outside was a castle.  A castle no different in looks and appearances to the one we were already standing in.  The only difference was that this castle was inverted.

     "What in the world's going on here?" asked Richter.

     "I don't know," I told him; "but I'm going to find out."

     "Would you like me to come with you?" he asked.

     "I appreciate the offer, but you're in no condition to fight."

     "Whatever," he replied, trying to stand on his feet, only to have Maria catch him before he fell over.

     "Please Belmont, stay with Maria."  And then I remembered the crucifix.  "Here take this," I said, handing him the crucifix.  "Maria wanted me to give this to you when we first met in the Castle."

     "No," he replied, handing it back to me.  "You hold onto it.  You never know when you might need it."

     I returned the crucifix to my pocket and added, "Thank you Belmont."  And then I looked at both him and Maria.  "I'll see both of you after my task is done."

     I leapt into the alternate castle from the wall of the regular castle.  It honestly was not much different from the actual castle except that everything was literally upside down, but it was not something that my body could not adjust to.  All I had to do was tell my mind that I was walking on the ceiling and I was fine.  All I had to worry about were the first of two evils I would eventually have to face.

     I charged into Death's upside down chamber and shouted for the beast to come forward and face me.  Death descended through the darkness with his cold black robes swaying back and forth.  He presented me with a bony grin, while his scythe gleamed through the moonlight.

     "So we meet again Alucard."

     "Yes," I declared while tightly holding my sword.  "And hopefully it'll be for the final time."

     Death grinned at my action.  "You have no admiration for me I see.  I suppose you have even less for your father."

     "I have great admiration for my father!  It's you that I've no respect for!  My father was at least once a person with a good heart.  You've absolutely no heart!"

     Death sighed.  "You really are a big hearted fool."

     "That may be, but I'm smart enough to know how to chop you down!"

     "Aren't you forgetting something Alucard?" responded Death with a chuckle.  "You don't have Trevor, Sypha, and Grant here to help you!  I'll admit the four of you got the better of me centuries ago, but that was then…" Death surprised me with an attack.  I tried to parry-and-dodge it, but the sword that I was carrying shattered under the force of Death's blade.  Now I was in serious trouble!  I was unarmed, and facing a monster that was right when he declared that 300 years ago it took four people to vanquish him! 

     Death hacked at me with his scythe, and I did my best to roll out of the way from his sharp blade, which could have easily cut me in two.  Honestly I had no idea what I was going to do.  I thought that was perhaps I could wrestle Death's scythe away and use it as a weapon against him, but that plan was probably foolhardy.  Fortunately I was able to see a beacon of light through Death's chamber.

     My mother's sword was standing against the wall in a dimly lit portion of Death's chamber, but with Death furiously attacking me I had no idea how I could reach it.  It was in that moment that I remembered that I did indeed have a weapon!  The crucifix that Maria gave me!  I removed the crucifix from my pocket and after dodging another one of Death's attacks threw it into the beast's torso.  Death recoiled and snarled from the crucifix, and I seized upon the opportunity to grab my mother's sword.  I kept my guard while I watched him sweep the icon away by using the handle of his scythe.

     "So now I know you've truly abandoned your father.  I see that you've apparently turned to Jesus in hope that He'll defeat me, and yet you're forgetting that I'm an immortal!"

     A twinkle entered my eye after hearing Death's statement.  Although I am not the best with words I knew what I could say to make him act irrationally and force him to make a mistake.  "I wouldn't say that I've turned to Jesus, but I did hear once that he conquered death."

     Death snarled at my comment and began to violently swing his scythe at me, which is exactly what I wanted.  Death may be an ageless being, but he is not free from thinking irrationally.  The more violently he swung his scythe the more he opened himself up for an attack. 

     Eventually he swung violently enough where I was able to impale my blade through his chest.  Death fell back, and I hastily removed my sword from his chest and swiped it against vertebrae, severing his head.  Just as before, Death crumbled into a pile of sulfurous ash.  Death was gone, but one battle still remained.

     In this alternative Castle, Father's chamber was not his throne room.  In fact, I do not even know if I would call his room a 'room.'  It felt more like what I would call an abyss.  I know that I was standing on solid ground when I faced him, but everything around me was black.  Next to him was a pair of torches, and they provided the only light in the room.

     "Father," I said, looking at him squarely in the eye.

     "Well, met my son!  It's been a long time!"

     "Father, I'm not going to allow you to leave this place."

     "You've ever been the ally of mortals!  Have you forgotten what they did to your mother?!"

     "You know damn well that I'd never forget what they did, but at the same time I remember what Mother said.  She always told me not to 'hate people, because sometimes they can't help being what they are.'  Besides the humans who killed Mother are long dead.  It's wrong to hate people who're innocent of what happened."

     Father shook his head.  "I simply don't understand you Alucard."

     "I know that, Father, but I understand you."

     "Oh…how?" Father asked me with an inquisitive eye.

     "Father you're a man filled with hate.  You can't let go of the past.  You blame God for everything that happened to you, but if God was to blame for all the evils in the world how would the good that exists in the world be understood by both of us?  Tell me Father, did you not experience good in this world as well?  You were born into an aristocratic class, and born with a gift of power.  You were a loved figure among your people.  You also had the ability to receive any woman that you wanted.  Do you not know how many men would love to have had those same blessings?  Yet you continue to blame God because the world's not perfect.  Damn it Father, nobody's had a perfect life, but compared to the lives of others your life was one worth living according to the average peasant in the field!  I've found inner peace Father.  I can accept that the world contains suffering, and that's just how the world works; but you can't!"

     Father's eyes flashed bright red.  He opened his cloak and tossed a few fireballs in my direction, but I was quick to dodge them.  "You're a fool Alucard!  Declaring my life to that of an ignorant peasant!  How stupid can you be!"

     "I can be a stupid fool who's found inner peace within myself!"

     Father snarled and raised his sword at me.  He attempted to slash me, but I parried the attack.  Sweat started to form on my brow, but I was not going to let my fears pull me under.  Yet before I could attack my father caught me with a sharp right cross that sent me to the ground.  "I'm glad that your mother's not here to witness this," he told me.

     "Actually Father," I began, rising back to my feet; "I'm sure Mother is watching.  And I'm sure that she's suffering from a broken heart, but at the same time I know that she'd want me to stop you because you're not the same man she once loved."

     Father snarled and swiped his sword at me again.  I dodged the blade and retaliated with a slice across the chest.  I tore a hole into Father's royal robes, but I did not do enough to actual hurt him.  Father lunged at me again, but this time my sword pierced his heart.

     I gasped as I watched my father attempt to remove the blade from his chest.  He was gasping for air.

     "How?" he gasped.  "How can I've been so easily defeated?"

     "You've been defeated ever since you lost the ability to love."

     Father wanted to snarl back at me, but the sword that was killing him would not allow it.  "I still love…"

     "No," I said, cutting him off.  "You do not love.  You've lost the ability to love, just the same as you lost the ability to find inner peace."

     Father did not respond to that statement.  Instead he only lifted his eyes upward into that abyss—perhaps he was looking up to Heaven—but it would be his final scene because with the sword piercing his heart he breathed his last.

     After the battle was over I encountered Maria and Richter outside the remains of the fallen castle.

     "Is he dead?" asked Maria.

     "Yes, he's dead."

     "I'm sorry that you had to do something like that," added Richter.  "I'm sorry that you had to fight your own father.  It must've been hard."

     Richter's statement made me think about Trevor for a moment.  Trevor, at first, did not understand how I felt when we defeated Father long ago, but his descendent, Richter, did.

     "…Indeed."

     "Alucard," began Maria, "what'll you do now?"

     "My blood's cursed Maria.  It would be better off if I was to leave the world again, but may God be with you both.  We shall not meet again."

     I began to walk away, but as I turned around I noticed that Maria was following me.  The expression on her face reminded me of a lost puppy trying to find its owner.  I looked back at her and told her, "You cannot follow me Maria."  But she paid no attention to me and continued to follow even though she kept her distance from me.  I knew that she was watching me when I returned to my coffin to sleep for eternity.  I thought for a moment about making her go away, but then I just chose not to.  I suppose that, that was another decision that would affect my life forever.  I thought that I would sleep for another eternity, but once again fate played a role in my life. 

     After Maria and Richter returned home, Richter decided to enter an Orthodox seminary to become a priest; and a few years after that he and his wife, Annette, celebrated the birth of their first child, Christian Simon Belmont, who was playfully called 'Riff.'

     Maria was apparently unable to stop thinking about me after our final encounter.  Although she met a man at a party one year later, and found him to be attractive she still could not stop thinking about me.  Her sister, Annette, persuaded her to marry him although she had indirectly given her heart to me.  Annette told her to forget about me, because I was a lost cause.  Maria bought into the pressure and married the man who's name was Michael, but the marriage was not to last. 

     Maria eventually came to the point where she would no longer have sex with her husband anymore, and through that act, and the fact that it had been declared she was forced into the marriage, Richter granted her an annulment.  Unfortunately, Maria was unable to claim any rights to anything she shared with her husband, and went back to living at home with her parents and the Belmonts—where she often babysitted Christian.  Finally she decided that she was going to have me one way or another.  Her determination was so strong that she roused me out of my sleep.  Another chapter in my life was about to begin.

     __


	8. Religion

**Author's Note**: This story follows along the story of Fighting Evil, although it is not in perfect harmony with it.  To read the full story here is the link: class=MsoNormal align=center 'text-align:center'>

_We believe in one God, the Father the Almighty,  
maker of Heaven and of earth.  Of all that is seen and unseen.  
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten by the Father.  
God from God, light from light, true God from true God.  
Begotten not made, one in being with the Father, and through Him all things were made.  
For us men, and for our salvation, He came down from Heaven.  
By the power of the Holy Spirit He was born of the Virgin Mary, and became a man.  
And for our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate.  
He suffered and died and was buried.  
But on the third day he rose again, in fulfillment of the Scriptures.  
He ascended into Heaven, and is seating at the right hand of Father.  
He will come again to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.  
We believe in the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son],  
with the Father and the Son, He is worshipped and glorified.  
He has spoken through the prophets.  
We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.  
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.  
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen_-  
Nicene Creed (325 AD)

Religion 

     In early 1803, a little over six years after the destruction of Castle Dracula, Maria roused me from my sleep and literally dragged me out the grave.  She still looked as gorgeous as she did the first time I saw her inside the Castle, and she told me that there might indeed be a way to free me from the vampire's curse.  She told me about an ancient Christian blessing that according to tradition could cleanse a person from his or her vampiric state, and this leads into my understanding of religion.

     I believe that there is indeed a God, or what might be called a 'higher power.'  I based this belief on how my father would react to anything Christian, but my father had a different twist on it than compared to what is taught by the Christian Church.

     Father always taught me how God was nothing more than a lie.  Not a lie in that He did not exist, but that He was not the 'all loving' God that Christians made Him out to be.  I did not completely prescribe to this theology based upon my understanding of Jesus from my mother.  My mother was brought up in the Orthodox Church—which is the dominate Church in our country—although Catholics are a significant minority.  My mother taught me the story about Jesus' birth, about how He—in the form of God—came down to earth by being born of a virgin woman to save humankind from its sins.  After the incident with my mother's parents she always told me never to hate humans, because sometimes they could not help being what they are.  Based on her philosophy I could not hate God, as my father did, because I was taught the traditional Christian teaching about God being born into the world of men.

     When Father and I did occasionally discuss religion I did ask him a few times if other gods existed.  Father said that he really did not know, and I feel the same way; but I do have to wonder something on the subject about the possibility of other gods.  When my father saw or heard anything Christian it affected him in some particular way.  For example, if a priest said to Father, 'In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to be gone!' it would affect him by either turning him away in fear, or making him become very angry.  But what if someone were to use the same rhetoric, and instead use the name 'Zeus' over Jesus, what would happen?  My brother-in-law would tell me that nothing would happen because Zeus does not exist, but then again he is a Christian priest.  Truly I do not know the answer, but I do know that Father would occasionally talk about Zeus and the other gods of old in probably the same manner that they are taught in any major university that teaches mythology.  It never affected him; but then again he could talk about Judeo-Christian stories if he wanted to as well, although he detested them.

     The other day before my children went to bed I told them a fairy tale that my mother told me long ago about St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus.  After we laid Lysander and Alcander down to sleep Maria asked me how my mother could have read such a story to me given the temperament of my father?  Well, when I was young Mother always told me that it would best if I did not talk about this story around Father; but I am just like my own two sons and did so anyway.  Father, of course, did become upset and demanded that Mother never tell that story again to me.  Mother did so until I asked her to tell me the story about St. Joseph again.  At first she refused, but relented when I told her that I would not tell Father.

     Although my father denounced Christianity in 1462 he actually converted to Catholicism one year later, but he did not do so because he decided to reform his ways (other wise there never would have been a vampire Dracula).  Father's conversion was purely political. 

     After Father denounced Christianity he lost the throne of Wallachia, and was forced to go into hiding.  He found safety in Hungary, and threw himself on the mercy of his cousin Stephen, the Hungarian king.  Although unfortunately for Father he found himself more as a political prisoner than as a family member in hiding, but Stephen's decision was not based on Father renouncing Christianity.  In fact, it is quite doubtful that Stephen even knew anything about what happened to my father regarding Christianity. 

     Hungary, unlike what would eventually become Romania, was a predominately Catholic country.  Stephen agreed to help Father regain his throne, but under one condition.  Father had to marry one of Stephen's daughters.  I do not know how pretty this daughter of Stephen's was, but Father was willing to do anything to regain his throne, so he agreed to marry the King's daughter.  However, Stephen wanted the marriage to take place within the Catholic Church, and he wanted Father to convert to Catholicism (which honestly is not much different from Orthodoxy).  Father honestly could have cared less about any of this, so he converted to the Catholic faith so he could achieve the army that he needed to regain his throne.

     At any rate, I agreed to follow Maria to her brother-in-law, Father Richter Belmont's estate, but I did not tell her whether or not I was willing to go through and receive this blessing.  But on the journey to Richter Belmont's home I started to become more attached to Maria.  I was always attracted to her physically ever since the moment we met inside the Castle, but now the attraction was becoming something more.  I told Maria my birth name, Adrian, and asked her to address me as that from now on.  Still I was reluctant to receive the blessing for a couple of reasons. 

     The first was that although I regarded my vampiric powers as a 'curse' they could sometimes be a blessing as well.  If I were to receive this blessing more than likely I would have to give up those powers that can honestly be quite useful.

     The second was the threat of mortality.  The vampiric blood in my body gave me unnatural long life.  Nobody enjoys the thought of death, but at the same time that is exactly what I would be expecting if I were to receive this blessing.  Of course, at the same time, I was devoted to Maria; and if I did not receive this blessing there would be a period in my lifetime when Maria would leave me, and I did not want to think about that.

     Finally, I wondered how would my body react to such a change.  When I was born, I was born with a unique gift where my body absorbed all the food and drink that it consumed without the need to remove waste.  If I was to receive this blessing that gift would probably be gone as well, and I was uncertain as to how my body would react.  Would it simply digest food naturally, or would I have to be stuck having to wear a diaper like my two-year-old?

     All of these factors were in my mind regarding the blessing, but eventually I decided to go through with it and receive it, thanks indirectly to a very small factor.

     The day before I decided to receive this blessing Maria and I stayed the evening at the Belmont residence and I became aquatinted with Richter and Annette's young son, Christian.  Christian was only three at the time, but he was already blessed with some of the physical features of his ancestors (his dark eyes and hair).  I watched Christian play in his family's backyard, and I began to think to myself for the first time how I would not mind having a son like Christian with Maria.  However, I did not want to have a son or daughter born with the same curse that I received at birth.  The only way that I could have a child who was not born with this curse was to receive this blessing.  Indirectly, it was young Christian Simon Belmont who influenced my decision to receive the blessing.

     After I told Richter and Maria that I would agree to go through with the blessing ritual I was taken inside the Belmonts' family chapel that was dedicated to the Christian saint, St. George.  This was the first time that I had ever been inside a church and I did not know what to expect.  I took a moment to observe the church's interior.  There was an altar, and a large crucifix behind it.  Right below the crucifix there was a small box called a tabernacle, which houses the consecrated Host.  Next to the altar was a small baptismal font, and along the walls there was a large portrait of Jesus Christ and two stained glass images of saints.  One saint was the Virgin Mary, and the other was of St. George, who was depicted slaying a dragon.

     (Richter told me years later that he dedicated his chapel to St. George, because George was always depicted as slaying a dragon that represents The Devil.  The Belmont family slays another devil, Dracula, so it was just a perfect match for him.)

     I mentioned earlier that when my grandfather hit me over the head with a large cross that it did not hurt me, but that it would hurt if someone with a tremendous force struck me on the head with one; but while Richter was performing the Christian blessing on me, the crucifix in his hand began to bother me.  So did the crosses on his vestments.  And the holy water he sprinkled burned my skin like acid.  I assume that when Richter was asking God to exorcise the vampire's blood out of my body I began to feel the effects of its curse, and the fact that I was in a church did not make the situation any easier.  I felt that while I was inside that building that some force was beginning to close in on me.

     The blessing went on for a few hours, but it felt like days to me.  My body was in absolute pain, crying out for Richter to stop, but I was not going to let him stop.  I had made the choice, and I was going to stand by it and see it through.

     Near the end of the blessing, the church began to feel a little bit more peaceful.  I could look at Richter's crucifix without the slightest hint of fear.  And the holy water splashing off my skin did not bother me at all.  The blessing finally concluded after I grabbed Richter's whip and held it high in the air.  I held the blessed object up for a few minutes before dropping it to the floor.  No scar was imprinted into my hand.  I was free from the vampire's curse!

     Although my body was now free I still felt very weak.  I felt like how a drunk feels after he throws up.  I wanted to return to my coffin for a while.  I wanted to sleep my body back to normal.  Maria was against the idea, but I told her that I needed just one month to recover.  Reluctantly she agreed, but warned me that one month later, in March, that she would drag me out of that coffin whether I wanted to leave or not!    


	9. Marriage and Lysander

_Should I fall out of love, my fire in the night?  
To chase a feather in the wind.  
Within the glow that weaves the cloak of delight.  
There moves a thread that has no end.  
For many hours and days that pass ever soon,  
the tides have caused the flames to dim.  
At last the arm is straight, the hand to the loom.  
Is this to end or just to begin?  
All of my love, all of my love, all of my love to you-_

"All of my Love"-Led Zeppelin_  
  
_

Marriage and Lysander

     My time away from Maria was not a time of sleeping, but a time of adjusting.  I was adjusting to my new body.  When I speak of a  'new body' I do not mean that my flesh and bones changed in appearance.  What I mean by a 'new body' is how my body responded to the blessing. 

     I was still blessed with the gift to be able to morph my body into either a bat or a wolf, but I was free from the curse that came with such a gift.  I could now morph without having a desire for blood.  The 'bloodlust' was gone.

     I was also fortunate that my body adjusted properly to the removal of waste.  Honestly, I thought that would be my biggest obstacle to overcome.

     Ironically, my biggest obstacle was surviving through that bitterly cold winter.  It was probably a miracle that I did not freeze to death.  The casket I was in was often damp, and the snow that rested on top of it occasionally turned the dew into tiny ice crystals.  I prefer a fire and a warm bed now. 

     After I made the decision centuries ago that the world would be a better place if I was not in it, I surrendered all hopes of every having a family or children.  But when Maria came into my life all of that changed forever.  Maria did not have to drag me out of that coffin when she returned one month later.  I was already waiting for her.  Shortly thereafter, we were married.

     Our marriage was celebrated in the Belmont family chapel of St. George with only a few guests.  Those guests included the Belmonts and Maria and Annette's parents Sebastian and Dymphna Renard.  I do not believe that without the Belmonts' approval Maria would have received her parents' blessing to marry me.  Sebastian and Dymphna knew of me through their daughter's tales about our first encounter inside the Castle, but I still do not believe they would have been willing to give me their daughter's hand in marriage since I was still an unknown figure to them if it was not for the Belmonts' help.

     Father Richter Belmont, who married us, wanted me to receive the Christian sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist; but I refused.  I simply was not ready to take part in such acts.

     After our wedding Maria and I spent the evening at the Belmont Estate.  The next morning I told her that I was going to the Castle.  She was confused and angry.  Why would I ever want to return to the Castle, especially not more than one day after our wedding?  That is when I told her about a secret treasure within the walls of the Castle.  The gold from this treasure could last us for centuries, and only I knew its location.  At that moment she refused no more, but demanded that she come with me.  Richter and Annette probably assumed that when we left we were going on a honeymoon.  Right, a honeymoon inside Castle Dracula!

     After our return we searched for a place to call home.  We found it in a comforting little villa near a small lake and large forest.  I was especially fond of the forest, because it gave me a place to roam in my spare time.  I suppose one could say that I finally settled down.

     Within a few months after our marriage Maria became pregnant.  Obviously I wanted to have children.  It was the reason why I underwent the blessing, but I did not except a child so early.  Maria, however, was prepared.  She handled the early stages of morning sickness as best she could, and as the pregnancy continued she joyfully took me shopping (even though I hate shopping) to a store that specializes in nursery items.

     I understand that when an expectant mother goes into labor that the expectant father is supposed to pace the floors like a caged animal.  Or at least that is how some understand it.  Well, I decided to break tradition by sitting calmly, though anxiously, in a chair outside the master bedroom while the doctor, Charles Damien, helped Maria deliver the baby.  And because of my actions I received glares from some of the women, who assisted the doctor, that evening.  Forgive me for having a different understanding of the situation.  Maria was in labor for God's sake!  She was not dying!  But at the moment I heard a sharp cry pierce the walls of the house I gasped.  Charles Damien came out of the master bedroom to congratulate me as a new father and to announce that Maria had given birth to a healthy baby boy.

     When I saw Maria for the first time after she had given birth I took in a moment to look at her face.  She was smiling, a smile that seemed to resemble the face of the sun.  The child in her arms was wrapped in blue swaddling clothes and was gently moving his tiny arms.   When she allowed me to hold him for the first time I thought that her face became even brighter.

     I had never known a baby before, but as I looked into his eyes I could not help but wonder what color they would be when he got older.  His tiny hands and feet were amazing to me.  I simply could not believe that one day this child, who was so tiny in my arms, would one day grow up to become a man.

     Maria and I chose the name Lysander Adrian Tepes for him.  Lysander was the name of a character from an English play by William Shakespeare that Maria enjoyed.  As Lysander grew older he took on a combination of the features from his mother and me.  Lysander received my brown eyes with a tiny hint of his mother's green.  He received his mother's nose and my chin.  Maria says his cheeks resemble mine, but I believe that they resemble her more than me.  And his blonde hair came universally from both of us.

     Obviously my world changed forever with a baby in it.  Lysander was like a rooster every morning.  Waking us up regardless if we were in the mood to wake up or not; and his lungs had the power of an opera singer!  Maria was often very strict about when someone could hold him.  Lysander was not allowed to be touched unless that person had washed their hands.  She was afraid that he might catch a disease or something, but as he got older she was more relaxed with this strict observance.

     Most of the work that comes with taking care of a baby was under Maria's watch.  She was the one who changed him, fed him, and bathed him.  I occasionally tried my luck at changing diapers, but I found out that battling Vlad the Impaler can be a lot easier than changing a diaper!  Nevertheless, I now had a family and was content to live out my days as a husband and father, but unfortunately, nothing is ever peaceful in this world.   


	10. Father's back

**Author's Note**: Earlier today I received a review dealing with the issue on the ages of Vlad Tepes and Adrian Tepes.  Konami was wrong when it declared that Dracula was born in the 11th century.  This historical Dracula, Vlad Tepes III, was born in the year 1431 and died in the year 1476.  Adrian would have to have been born after him.

_I am a man who walks alone,  
and when I'm walking a dark road  
at night or strolling through the park.  
When the light begins to change  
I sometimes feel a little strange,  
a little anxious when it's dark.  
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark.  
I have a constant fear that something's always near.  
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark.  
I have a phobia that someone's always there_-

"Fear of the Dark"-Iron Maiden

     Three months after the birth of my son, Lysander, I had become adjusted to the life of a father.  In the early days of Lysander's life he would wake Maria and I up shortly after midnight practically every evening, but around the time he was three months old he would cut back unless he was hungry or scared; but there was one particular evening when his cries changed the course of my life.

     The three of us were spending the night at the Belmont residence when Lysander's cries woke all of us up at around three in the morning.  Someone rapped on the Belmont door, and the knock woke Lysander.  The knock came from a traveler, who was lost and searching for an inn.  Annette was very upset that he would come to the house at three in the morning, but Richter calmed her down and gave the man directions.  Richter, however, told me that there was something odd about the man that he simply could not place his finger on.  

     The next day I was assisting Richter with the horses in the Belmont stable when the two of us heard this sharp cry from inside the home.  The scream came from Annette.  Richter and I joked that it was probably came across a mouse in the kitchen, but instead we were in for a terrible surprise. 

     There standing over Maria and Annette was Vlad the Impaler himself, back from the grave.  I gasped, but I gasped even more when I saw what he carried under his arms.

     One arm carried the small body of Christian Belmont.  Christian's head was sunk downward starring at the floor, with his brown hair covering his eyes.  I thought that for a moment Christian was dead, because he was not struggling, but then I noticed that he was still breathing.  Father had apparently knocked him out.

     What Father carried beneath his other arm absolutely terrified me.  He carried my three-month-old son, Lysander.  Lysander was awake, but he was not crying.  Why exactly is a mystery to me.

     When Father's dark eyes made contact with me it appeared as though everybody else in the room did not exist.

     "Ah, Alucard," he began, "how nice it is to see you again."

     "Father, put the children down," I replied in the most powerful voice I had.  The sight of Lysander's blonde hair in my father's grasp terrified me.

     "This child of yours reminds me so much of you, Alucard.  The blonde hair and brown eyes, even though I did notice a hint of green, but I suppose that must be a gift from his mother, am I right Alucard?"

     "Father, if that child reminds you of me in any way then I pray to you to put him down gently, along with the other child."

     "I'm sorry Alucard, but I can't do that."

     "Monster!" shouted Annette, who had apparently overcome her fear of Dracula after watching him hold her five-year-old son for an extended period of time.  "Why can't you just stay dead and leave us in peace?!"

     Father chuckled.  "Oh, but you can't want that.  Besides it was your husband's fault for inviting me into your home in the first place."

     I turned to Richter.  He was in complete shock.  "You?!  You're the man from last night!"

     Father cackled.  "Yes, and I must say that I'm a terrific actor!  I fooled you, a man who has fought me how many times now?"

     Richter glared, but Father continued to flash his wicked smile.

     "But it's not only your stupidity Belmont.  I'm back because someone wanted to pay me tribute."

     "'Tribute!'" I shouted.  "Who in the hell would want to pay you tribute?!"

     "Someone who understands 'Hell' quite well.  Someone like our cousin, Elizabeth."

     "Elizabeth?!"

     "Yes, Elizabeth Bathory."

     That was a name that I did not hear in a long time.  Elizabeth was a distant cousin of mine, and a countess.  I really did not know much about her except what I had read.  Elizabeth was born ninety years after me, and in life she started to experiment with the dark arts.  She believed that by drinking and bathing in blood she could obtain unnatural long life, and under her orders she executed at least 650 young women for the sole purpose of drinking and bathing in their blood.  Her subjects awarded her with the title of 'Blood Countess' based on her actions.  In the end she was able to find her immortality, thought it was in the form of a vampire.

     "What does she want to pay you tribute for?!" I demanded to Father.

     "Don't know, don't care," he replied, still with his ever present grin on his face.

     By this moment Richter had seen enough of Vlad the Impaler in his household and cracked his whip to let him know about it.  Father never changed the expression on his face, he only showed Richter his unconscious son and that was enough for Richter to stop.

     I too thought for a moment about rescuing Lysander from Father's arm, but out of fear I could not.  I was not afraid of him hurting me, but I was afraid that I might hurt Lysander.  Father had a pretty strong grip on the baby and I was afraid that if I tried to pull Lysander away I might hurt him by Father's refusal to let go.

     Maria, who had been relatively quiet this whole time, tried to reason with him.  She begged Father to let Lysander go, but Father seemed to find humor in my wife's plea.

     "Let him go?" he started.  "All right I can let him go.  How 'bout I let him go into the hearth?"

     Maria gasped.  I thought she was going to cry, but I was enraged.

     "If you lay but a hand on either of their two heads I swear to God that I'll kill you!"

     "Swear to God?" Father replied.  He started to laugh.  "The kind all-loving, all-merciful God?  Have you been following the teachings of Jesus lately Alucard?"

     "Shut up!  Your war with God has nothing to do with Lysander or Riff!"

     "Oh, but it does.  You see Alucard these two children are the offspring of those who would try to kill me, so they're a threat to me.  That's why they have to come along with me, but don't worry I promise I won't hurt them.  In fact, maybe I'll raise them to be just like me.  Your 'Lysander' could become the 'Alucard' I always wanted."

     "Bastard!" shouted Richter.

     "Come now Belmont, don't talk about your son that way."

     Richter sneered at Father's comment.

     "Anyway, I thank you for your warm hospitality and for the fact that I get to take too small children with me back to the Castle," Father said with sarcasm.  "If you want them back I'll be waiting," and with that Father vanished, taking with him my son and my nephew.

     Almost immediately after Father transformed himself into mist, while he carried Lysander and Christian along with him, Richter and I were in the Belmont stable preparing a pair of horses for the journey to the Castle.  We promised our wives that no harm would come to our children, but both of us were worried.  I was probably more worried for Lysander's safety than Christian's, but my fear was not based on the fact that Lysander was my son and Christian was not.  No, my fear was based on Lysander's age.  At three-months-old Lysander was dependent on the people around him.  Christian was to, but not as much.  Lysander was also more susceptible to diseases than Christian was.

     To make matters worse it was usually a ten-day journey to Castle Dracula on horseback, and I was afraid that neither Lysander nor Christian could hold out that long.  Richter, however, had a plan.  He knew some of the roots off the main road that would allow us to travel faster to the Castle.  Travelers usually do not venture off the main road because bandits often have camps in those areas.  Of course, with the Castle visible in the distance I doubted that bandits would try to make camp in those woods.  Plus after facing my father in battle, bandits were the least of my troubles.

     After we arrived in the Castle we did our best to search every room we could find.  Personally I assumed that Father was holding Lysander and Christian in quarters near the master throne room, or possibly even my old bedroom.  Unfortunately Richter and I never had the chance to discover where our two children were being held because we were separated.  We were on the second floor of the Castle and I somehow fell from a window.  I have no explanation for how it happened, it simply just happened.  Fortunately I was all right, but because it was dark Richter was unable to see me, so we were basically on our own now.

     I survived through the Castle, but I cannot say the same for Richter.  He still is not exactly sure of what happened to him, but somehow he was knocked unconscious and carried to the master throne room, which is where I rediscovered him.

     Father was there, naturally, along with my son, nephew, and Richter.  Richter was lying next to his son unconscious.  Lysander was sleeping, but he appeared to be all right.

     "Good evening, Alucard!" Father declared with a grin to mock me.

     I unsheathed my sword in response.

     "Oh come now, Alucard.  Surely you don't wish to fight me.  Especially not while I hold three of your family members in my hands."

     "Lay one hand on them and I'll cut your throat!"

     Father chuckled.  "Come now Alucard, we've been through this before.  I was actually going to make a pact with you."

     "A pact?"

     "Yes, my son.  I'm willing to spare the life of your son and the two Belmonts, along with your wife and sister-in-law and any future children that they may begat if…"

     "If what Father?!" I declared.

     He looked me straight in the eye and declared, "If you'll declare absolute loyalty to me."

     I was stunned by Father's statement, because I never expected it; but it did not take long for me to answer, "Yes."  I knew that by agreeing to his demands I would never be able to see my wife and son again, but I was also willing to lay down my life for their future.

     Father arranged for a carriage to escort the Belmonts and my son back to our village.  The carriage was driven by a phantom driver, and under Dracula's influence the horses appeared to triple their speed.  Richter and Christian were still unconscious but I knew that they would be all right, although I was concerned that they had not yet woken up.  Lysander did wake up to cry, and I did my best to comfort him.  He was all right. 

     My time away from home caused concern for Maria.  She decided after Richter and I left that she was also going to make her way to the Castle to rescue our son, but she did not go alone.

     Maria was able to recruit the services of Natalia.  Natalia was an upper-class citizen from our village.  She had a modest build and was pretty, but I simply could not stand her!  She was never rude to me or anything I simply did not agree with her lifestyle.  She was a woman who never lifted a finger in society, but was known to gossip.  Honestly, I do not know what Maria saw in her, or how she was able to actually convince her to come along with her; but come along she did.

     The two of them, however, never made it to Castle Dracula.  Instead they spotted the carriage that carried Lysander, Richter, Christian, and I.  And I am still not sure how Maria did it, but she leapt at the carriage, forcing it to stop.

     "Adrian!" she screamed with joy, before she embraced Lysander and me.  I hugged her back, but I never displayed the same kind of enthusiasm that she did, and she could tell that there was something wrong.  "Are you all right?"

     I shook my head.

     "Why?  What's wrong?" she asked while removing her bodice to nurse Lysander.  It bothered me to watch her do that knowing that I might have another opportunity to feel the warmth of her breasts.

     "I can never return to you Maria."

     "What?!  Why?!"  I thought she was about to break down, but she did not.  She merely stroked Lysander's blonde hair.

     "Because I made a promise to my father.  I told him that I would be loyal, and in return he would grant me the lives of the Belmonts, Lysander, and you.  And that this promise would extend to any more children."

     "No!" she declared.  "I'll not have you return to him!"

     "Maria, I'm more than willing to sacrifice myself for you and Lysander's future."

     "You may be willing to sacrifice yourself for us Adrian, but I'm not ready to let you go!  I promise you that I'll bring you back home to Lysander and I."

     "It's not possible," I told her.

     "Where there's a will, there's a way," she told me, before giving me a kiss.

     I turned and looked at her before stepping back into the carriage.  I wanted to believe that there was a way, but I did not know what it could be.  I tried to look at Richter and Christian, who were forced on Natalia's horse, but were still out cold; yet all I could do was stare at Maria.

     After I returned to the Castle I had my first encounter with Elizabeth.  She had a petite body with brown hair and eyes, and ruby red lips.  She was also of average height for her time.  "Hello, Alucard," she began.

     "Don't even talk to me!" I shot back.  "I've nothing to say to you!"

     She flashed me a smile.  "Why Alucard, whatever could you mean?" she added with a giggle.

     "Damn it you know exactly what I mean!  How could you bring him back…"

     "For you to kill him Alucard."

     That statement caught me off guard.  "What?!  Excuse me?"

     She chuckled.  "Yes, Alucard.  You see, your father is the lord among vampires; but I believe that rather than have a lord what we need is a queen!"

     I knew now what Elizabeth was talking about, but I was still slightly confused.  My father was the lord among vampires.  He was the chief vampire, because apparently there were no other vampires in the world when he returned from his death in 1476.  Elizabeth wanted that title for herself, but for another vampire to take the title of 'Lord of the Vampires' that vampire has to actually kill the head vampire, which in this case was my father.

     "Then it's your job to kill him, not mine."

     But Elizabeth continued to laugh.  "Oh, I know that Alucard, but I need your help."

     I raised an eyebrow to her.

     "You see Alucard, I know that you have the ability to kill your father, and I know that you want to kill your father.  I can help you do so, but all I ask in return is that you leave the final blow to me."

     I was furious at every word that exited her mouth.  "This is what you think I am?!  Some damn puppet on a string?!  Did you ever consider my feelings for a moment?!"

     She started to chuckle, which made me even more upset.  "Now, now, Alucard.  Just calm down…"

     "Oh shut up bitch!  Damn it I had everything I ever wanted.  I had a beautiful wife and a beautiful child and your greed has taken all of that away from me!  You know what though?  You're damn right that I want to kill my father, but right now I think I'd rather kill you more!"  And that is exactly what I did.  In fact, I did it in a way that would make my father proud…by impalement.

     Maria told me before we departed that day that 'if there's a will, there's a way.'  I honestly did not think too much on her words, but I often thought about her and Lysander.  I wanted to see them again, but I only believed that I would get to see them in my dreams. 

     Maria, however, is a strong woman full of courage.  I do not know exactly how she did it, but she convinced Natalia and an elder priest named Father Miceadu to accompany her to Castle Dracula.

     Father Miceadu was in his early sixties, and had been an Orthodox priest for at least forty years.  He was fairly tall and robust man that often wore glasses.  He was conservative in his outlook on life, and maintained a strong devotion to Jesus.  Maria and I both knew of him, because he was the pastor of the church in our village.

     When the three of them came in contact with me at the Castle I did not know what I was going to do.  Honestly if Maria had not been there I probably would have attacked Miceadu and Natalia, but I simply could not attack the love of my life.

.    The four of us encountered Vlad the Impaler together.  Father sat on his throne with his cold dark hair blowing in the wind.  He appeared not to take any notice of us until he noticed me.         

     "So you've chosen to defile me and our family history again, have you Alucard?"

     "Father, I'll never lay a hand on the mother of my child, so yes Father, I have defiled you!"

     "Then you must face your punishment," he replied, as he unsheathed his sword.  "I'll chop you down before your precious wife, then I'll chop her down next to you."

     "I'll never let you hurt me or him!" responded Maria, full of courage.

     Father chuckled.  He did not take Maria's words too seriously.  Instead he turned to Natalia and Miceadu, but he paid more attention to Miceadu.

     "And how 'bout the two of you?  Especially you priest.  Is your God going to be here with you?"

     "God has never let me down!" Miceadu responded.

     "Just wait," Father replied.  "He always does at the most critical moment."

     "Which explains why the Belmonts have been able to defeat you for over the last 300 years, right Father?" I replied.

     Father's eyes grew wide with that comment.  I knew that I had struck a raw nerve with Father.  "You will take those words back Alucard!"

     "I will not Father!"

     Father snarled at my defiance.  "Perhaps you should consider it."

     "And perhaps you should consider this!" Maria exclaimed, as he sprinkled a bottle of holy water against my father's skin.  The blessed water burned his skin like acid.  He fell back, but kept a tight grip on his sword.

     "Forget you, Alucard!  I'll slay your wife first!"  But I was ready to defend my wife.  My sword was already drawn, and I parried my father's attack.  My father's strength was incredible—as it always has been.  I did not know if I was going to lose my grip on my sword, and have my father slice me. 

     I found help from a source that I did not expect.  Natalia was armed with a pistol, and she fired it into Father's torso.  Bullets will not harm him, but they will aggravate him.  He actually pushed me aside, and turned his attention towards her, but that proved to be a fatal mistake. 

     With Father caught off guard I rammed my sword into his back.  He let out a moan, but did not expire.  It was Father Miceadu who delivered the final blow by inserting a piece of the consecrated Host into Father's mouth.  Father's body shook as though it had been struck by a bolt of lightning, and then to my absolute horror it combusted similar to a balloon right before my very eyes.   So ended the reign of Vlad the Impaler. 

     Approximately one year after Lysander's birth, Maria was pregnant again.  This pregnancy was different from Lysander's.  When Maria became pregnant with Lysander she was hoping for a child, but this time she was not expecting one, especially not with Lysander so very small.  But for me, I enjoyed the idea of having another baby. 

     Ironically, Maria's sister, Annette, discovered that she was pregnant as well around the same time.  Unlike Maria, I think that Annette was ready to become pregnant again, because Christian was six-years-old, so it had been a while for her and Richter. 

     I am sure that both Maria and Annette were expecting a pregnancy where their husbands would always be at their side for the duration of the pregnancy and after the birth of the baby, but an evil in a different kind of form was preparing its strike on Romania.


	11. Number of the Beast

****

Author's Note: I just want to thank everyone who has written a review. So far they have all been pretty positive, and I hope that those of you who are reading this autobiography of Adrian will feel the same with every new chapter. Until next time, happy reading!

Torches blazed and sacred chants were praised,  
as they start to cry. Hands held to the sky.  
In the night, the fires burning bright,  
the ritual has begun, Satan's work is done.  
666, the number of the beast,  
sacrifice is going on tonight-

"The Number of the Beast"-Iron Maiden

Number of the Beast

There is an old saying that _if you believe in one you have to believe in the other_. Christians often use this rhetoric to prove the existence of God, but I seem to notice that this statement is used more to comfort those who have experienced some sort of tragedy. The philosophy behind it seems to be that _there is evil in this world, but there is also good_. I have never questioned that there are forces of good and evil in this world, because they have been around me ever since birth, but I never thought that I would see the source of evil.

One year after my father's defeat Maria and I (along with Lysander) were enjoying dinner at the Belmont home when Father Miceadu started pounding on the front door. When we let him inside he was out of breath. All of us rose to meet him, while Lysander tugged at his pant leg.

"What is it Father?" Richter asked, deeply concerned.

"Richter, it's my church," he said, after catching his breath.

"What about it?" I asked.

"The church is on fire!"

I gasped, and I probably gasped more than anybody in the room did; but my gasp was not because the church was on fire. Obviously I did not want the church to burn down, but I was more worried about the houses around the church—including my own! If that fire was to spread the entire town could have been engulfed in the flames. It would have been a lot easier to rebuild the church over rebuilding the town.

"How did this happen?" Maria asked.

"I don't know, Maria. It's possible that someone came inside to light a prayer candle and the flame caught something flammable."

"There was no one inside the church, right?" asked Annette.

"No, some of the villagers smashed the windows and called inside the church. There was no response. Right now the villagers are trying to save the church, but I came here looking for help."

"Help with what?" I asked him.

"I need someone to go inside and rescue the Eucharist."

I gave Miceadu a look of shock. I could not believe that he was worried about the Eucharist.

"Why are you worried, Father?" asked Richter. "You know the teaching, as do I, that Christ cannot be destroyed."

"I know that Belmont, but I still believe that the Eucharist must be rescued."

To this day, I still have no idea why Miceadu was so concerned over rescuing the Eucharist from that burning building. And to this day, I still have no idea why I agreed to rescue it for him.

When Richter, Miceadu, and I arrived at the church I knew that it was not going to be saved. Flames had engulfed the church, but fortunately the bucket brigade of villagers were able to keep the flames from spreading to other buildings. As far as I am concerned those villagers who assisted with the bucket brigade were more of a hero than I ever was on that day. I risked my life when I went inside that church. For all I knew, at any moment the roof could have collapsed on me making Maria and widow with two babies to eventually raise alone. Not only was the thought of the roof collapsing a problem, so was the heat. The heat that came from the burning pews was tremendous, and sweat dripped into my eyes, affecting my vision. Not that it really mattered, because the white smoke that filled the church made it nearly impossible for me to see anyway. But I was familiar with the church's layout, because I had attended Mass a few times here with Maria; and the tabernacle that held the Eucharist was positioned right behind the altar.

I walked through the church at a fast, but steady pace. I knew that this building was going to crumble, and I did not want to trip over a piece of broken wood and be trapped inside when it finally did.

I approached the tabernacle and quickly removed its contents, but it was in that moment that I heard a voice. The voice was one of power yet of love.

"Adrian," it called.

I quickly turned around. I tried to find out where the voice was coming from, and for a moment I forgot that I was the only one inside the church. No one was there. It was me and only me inside this burning building. But when I started to exit the church the voice called to me again.

"Who's there?!" I shouted.

This time the voice responded. "I am who am."

I may not be an expert on the Bible or Christian theology, but I knew exactly whom that statement referred to. "God?"

"Yes, Adrian, and I've much more that I want to tell you, but now's not the time. Don't worry though, you'll see me again soon."

I do not know if I was in a trance or what, because the next thing I remembered was Father Miceadu screaming at me to get out of the building before it collapses. And I did escape the church, holding the Eucharistic container only moments before it did.

That night I had a dream, or at least I thought it was a dream. In my 'dream' was a man, a man with wounds in His hands, feet, and side. There is only one man in history that I know would fit such a description, and for some reason I found humor in meeting Him. "I always figured that I would be the last person you would want to visit."

"He who is last is first."

"Wouldn't you rather talk with Richter or Miceadu? They're priests who actually serve you. I'm just someone who's here."

"You're wrong Adrian. You're the person I need right now."

"Me? For what?!"

"To be my servant."

"I think you've chosen the wrong man."

"I never choose the wrong man! God doesn't make mistakes! Besides, I've chosen you before as an instrument to defeat your father, and now I need you to defeat an even more powerful enemy."

Now I was slightly interested in what God had to say. "What do you mean?"

"The church that was destroyed tonight was by the direct power of the Devil."

The world 'direct' took my by surprise. "What?!"

"Yes, you heard me correctly."

"But how can you expect me to defeat the Devil?"

"With my help."

Then I started chuckling. "Richter and Miceadu'll never believe me."

"They will very soon." After His closing statement the vision faded.

The next night, at Father Miceadu's request, Richter, Annette, Maria, and I all gathered at his rectory. Miceadu held an icon of the Holy Trinity. At first I did not understand why, but soon I would understand.

"I'm glad that all of you could come," he told us. "Richter and I did some investigative work today into my church's fire. Scattered among the rubble was an oily rag. I've no idea how that rag got there, but two hours later I would know."

"Where did the rag come from Father?" asked Richter.

"Belmont, that rag was placed inside the church by a possessed man."

"What?!" all of us exclaimed.

"How do you know that?!" added Richter.

"Father Belmont, after we parted company I took a nap. I woke up when I heard someone knocking on my door. It was a man dressed all in black. He wore a hood over his face, so I couldn't tell what he looked like. I asked him what he wanted, and he told me that he wanted me to hear his confession. I invited him into the home and into the living room where we currently stand. Normally I'll not break the seal of the confession, but because this man was a demon I feel that I can do so in good conscious."

"A demon?" I replied, stunned by Father Miceadu's choice of words.

"Yes, Adrian you heard me correctly, a cold-hearted demon."

I did not know what to think about Miceadu's description of the man who came to him for confession. But then again, I supposedly saw Jesus Christ.

"Please go on Father," added Richter.

"Well, I asked him to tell me what offenses had he committed against God, and he told me that he was a murder. I was stunned, but it's my job to help sinners. I asked him how did he become a murder, and he told me that it was last night when he possessed a man to burn a church to the ground.

I asked him if the church he was referring to was mine and he said, 'yes'. Then I asked him what did he mean by possessed, and he told me that under his master's orders he possessed the soul of a weak minded man and forced him to commit this act.

Next I asked him who his master was, and he told me that his master was the Devil.

Finally, I offered him the grace of Jesus Christ, but he blasphemed the name of Jesus; and told me that he was sorry that he did not decapitate the man he possessed to burn the church."

All of us were absolutely silent. It was so quiet in that room that we could have heard a pin drop. I watched Maria and Annette rub their pregnant bellies. They were obviously frightened, and rubbing their pregnant bellies was, I guess, a way to help them cope with that fear. When Miceadu continued, Maria moved closer to me and Annette moved closer to Richter.

"The man added that he and his master will do what Vlad Tepes couldn't.

When I finally asked him why was he telling me all of this he told me that he always likes to tell people his plots just before he kills them; and after that he lunged at me, but I was able to push him away.

Finally he revealed his face to me—a horrible wretched face. This man looked like a corpse—flesh was rotting off his face. There was no light in his eyes. The look he gave to me was of a man without a soul, or if he had a soul it was already burning in Hell.

He lunged at me again, but I sidestepped him, and grabbed my icon of the Holy Trinity—this same icon that I now hold before all of you—from the wall and held it before him. He recoiled and snarled at the image, just like I would expect a demon to do. The icon kept him at bay, long enough for me to grab a bottle of holy water and sprinkle it on him. The blessed water burned his skin as though it had been acid. He departed from the rectory, and I haven't seen him since; but I've still been holding this icon of the Trinity close to me and asking for God's protection."

Nobody said a word. We were all silent, until an outside voice pierced that silence.

"So He's onto me!" it declared.

All of us tried to find the source of the voice, and when it was revealed it was nothing more than a black shadow-less figure.

"Who're you?" I declared.

"'The Accuser' is what I'm referred to as in Hebrew."

I am not an expert on Hebrew, but I knew what 'The Accuser' means.

"Satan?"

"Good guess, Adrian. I don't suppose that I need to explain anymore, because I'm sure He has already explained enough."

"He?" I asked.

"You know who the 'He' is I'm referring to Adrian Tepes."

"I'm afraid that I don't."

The Devil appeared to sigh. "You saw Him last night."

"Who did you see, Adrian?" asked Richter.

"I saw…or at least I thought I saw Jesus Christ."

"There is no thinking Adrian. You saw Him. And if you wish to face me come to your boyhood home…"

"Depart!" shouted a voice, cutting the Devil off. I am not sure if the voice was God or an angel, but whoever it was, it repelled the Devil away and erased the fears of Maria and Annette. Maria and Annette were cowering behind Richter and I until whoever it was erased their fears. I do not know if it was God or an angel, but whoever it was, it made Maria and Annette no longer remembered our confrontation with the Devil.

When Richter, Miceadu, and I were able to get away from Maria and Annette, Miceadu asked me, "Adrian, what did the Lord tell you?"

"He told me that He needed me as His instrument to fight the Devil."

"Then let us fulfill the Lord's request," replied Richter.

The reference to my 'boyhood home' was obvious. Satan was referring to the Castle, and when we looked outside we saw the Castle gleaming through the moonlight. This is probably the only time that Castle Dracula lived while its master was dead.

The next day Richter, Miceadu, and I set out for the Castle. Unlike my last visit to the Castle we decided to try and remain on the main road, although we did occasionally take an alternative root off the main path.

When we finally reached the Castle we expected the final battle to take place in the throne room, and we were not disappointed. The Devil waited for us, with his black shadow hovering over my father's throne. "So you've come to challenge me?" he declared.

"We'll send you back to Hell!" declared Father Miceadu.

"Hmm, that's easier said than done, priest."

"God has sent us on this mission," added Richter.

"Similar to 'onward Christian soldiers.' That brings back a lot of memories of the many crusaders doing plenty of UN-Christian acts."

Then the Devil seemed to turn to me. "You seem to know things like that don't you, Adrian?"

"What're you getting at?"

"You know, your mother."

"He's trying to tempt you Adrian, don't listen!" responded Richter.

"Tempt you with what? Am I, or am I not telling you the truth?"

I nodded and said, "You're telling the truth, but if you're trying to make me hate humans over what happened to my mother forget it. None of the humans living today are responsible for what happened, and to hate humans would be going against with my mother taught me a long time ago."

"Miceadu's a descendent of one of the men that killed your mother."

I looked at Miceadu and he looked back at me. Miceadu appeared shocked at what the Devil revealed to us.

"Adrian," Miceadu began, "forgive me for any of the sins of my ancestors."

"Your ancestors were forgiven a long time ago. Furthermore, if people were to be held accountable for the sins of their ancestors I would be in a lot more trouble than anybody else in this room." Then I turned and looked at the Devil. "Your temptations aren't working."

"Hmm," he replied, dejected; "it makes no difference, Baatezu!"

The Devil waved his shadow-like arm to reveal a man dressed all in black with a hideous face.

"That's him!" shouted Miceadu. "That's the man who attacked me in the rectory."

Baatezu laughed. "Yes, it's me priest. And if it wasn't for that damned icon I could've eliminated you right there and then!"

"You'll harm no one," I replied, as I unsheathed my sword. Richter cracked his whip, and Miceadu raised his crucifix, which brought a snarl to the mouth of Baatezu.

The crucifix appeared to keep Baatezu at bay, and I thought that perhaps we could make short work of this Baatezu, but while we paid too much attention to him the Devil cast a fire spell that struck the crucifix and forced Miceadu to drop it.

"Are you sure God's with you, priest?" the Devil asked in an attempt to discourage us.

Miceadu nodded firmly. "Yes."

But during the dialog exchange between the priest and the Devil, Richter cracked his whip into Baatezu's chest. The monster fell to the Castle's wall. Richter tried to follow the attack with another, but Baatezu dodged.

"Fucking bastard!" the monster shouted, before attempting a charge. Richter merely sidestepped Baatezu and I slashed him with my sword. At first I thought this battle might be relatively simple, because in all honesty Lysander—who at the time was not even two—could have fought me better than this.

But Baatezu had some untapped power. He raised his arms and levitated into the air. Then his entire body became engulfed in flames. Finally he attacked us as though he was a bat; the only difference was that he flew at us with the speed of a bullet from a gun.

The three of us did our best to dodge him, but almost every time we dodged him we had no time to counterattack. Richter and I could handle this, but Miceadu could not. He did his best to dodge all the attacks he could, but finally his body gave in to fatigue. He was struck down by Baatezu's flame along his side. He fell to the ground, but did not die.

Instead he kept his wits. While on his back, Miceadu raised a piece of the Host. The power of Christ stopped the monster dead in its tracks. Baatezu's face was absolutely terrified, and that fear made him look even more ugly!

He never took another step, which was all the time I needed to run my sword through his back. Baatezu crumbled into a pile of sulfurous ash, back to Hell where he belongs. I quickly removed my blade from the ashes, and searched for Baatezu's master.

I found his shadow-figure staring at the Eucharist, Miceadu was still holding. The Devil snarled at the Host, signifying his defeat, and disappeared under a cloud of flames.

Richter and I immediately charged over to Miceadu. I asked him if he was all right, but then I examined his wound. It was disgusting, almost as bad as Baatezu's face, and I feared that it probably had become infected.

Richter did his best to clean and bandage the wound while I talked to Miceadu. Surprisingly, he still remained positive. "This is a great day, Adrian," he said to me with a smile.

I was confused. How could he think it was a great day after being wounded like that? Still, I did not want to express any negativity, so I tried to smile. "Yes, we won."

"Yes, we did, but that's not what I meant."

"It's not?"

"No. It's a great day because I took a wound in the service of Christ. It's just like St. Paul said, 'I am crucified with Christ yet I live'." Miceadu was such a devoted priest. I always admired that quality about him.

"Well, Father," Richter responded, after he did his best to clean and bandage his wound; "it'll be an even better day once we get you out of here."

Almost at the moment Richter finished his sentence the Castle began to rumble. I was worried. I did not want us to make haste in how we carried Miceadu to the point that we would hurt him, but how could Richter and I not make haste when the Castle was beginning to crumble?

"Here Father, let me carry you," I told Miceadu as I quickly—but gently—lifted him onto my shoulder.

"Don't worry about me," he told us. "You've got to worry more about yourselves right now. The two of you're about to celebrate the births of two knew children!"

"Yes, we are, Father," I told him. "And I want you to be the one who baptizes my new baby."

"Same here," added Richter.

The three of us escaped the Castle just before it crumbled, but I could tell on our journey home that Miceadu was becoming weaker and weaker everyday. Richter and I asked a nun in the convent near our village to look after him.

Shortly after Richter and I returned home our wives gave birth. For Richter it was a baby girl, Sidra. Sidra reminds me so much of her mother in terms of appearance, with her brown eyes and brown hair. But in terms of how she acts when Maria and I see her, she somehow reminds me of her father.

Maria and I had another baby boy, Alcander Renard Tepes. Alcander certainly inherited his blonde hair from both of us, but his green eyes distinctly belong to his mother. Maria always tells me that Alcander has my chin and smile, but his cheeks look almost exactly like his mother.

Richter and I were both happy that approximately one week after Maria and Annette gave birth (Alcander and Sidra were born just a day apart) Miceadu was well enough to baptize our children. The happiness that he showed on his face made me think that for a moment he was going to survive that wound, but it was not to be. Less that one day after the baptisms, Father Miceadu went to be with his Jesus.


	12. What? He's back again!

_I throw myself into the sea,  
release the wave,  
let it wash over me.  
To face the fear I once believed.  
The tears of the dragon for you and for me_-

"Tears of the Dragon"-Bruce Dickinson

Vlad Returns

     Sometimes I picture myself as Simon Belmont, who was perhaps the most legendary figure in the Belmont clan.  Simon was not famous because he was any better than Trevor or Richter.  Simon was famous because he fought and defeated Dracula three times in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

     In the late fall of 1807 we had our first good snow for the upcoming winter, and I spent the day outside with my two sons and niece and nephew.  I was pushing Alcander and Sidra on a sled down a small slope when the sky went dark.  It was only for a moment, but it was unusual that is for sure.  Alcander and Sidra started to cry, and so did Lysander. 

     Richter (who was with me on that day) and myself gathered up our children and took them inside.  After our smallest children stopped crying, Richter and I decided to visit the village's astronomer.  Perhaps he would have an answer, but he did not.

     After we left the astronomer's home we discussed the other possibility.

     "Tepes, do you think that Prince Dracula had anything to do with what just happened?"

     "I would certainly hope not…but I also seriously doubt it."

     "How so?"

     "Well, Richter, what's the number one event that happens when Vlad the Impaler returns?"

     Richter did not have to think long.  "Why, when his castle returns."

     "Exactly!  And do you see the Castle?" I asked, while I pointed in the direction where the Castle was always located.

     Richter stared in the direction I pointed, but the Castle was not there.  "Nno," he said apprehensively.  "But I still want to investigate."

     "What do you mean?"

     "I mean that I'm going to journey to Castle Dracula."

     "What?  Why?!  That's nothing more than a waste of time!"

     "How do you know that?"

     "Because it's very simple Richter, the Castle's not there.  And if the Castle's not there that means Dracula's not there either."

     "But I want to check to make sure.  I don't want what happened last time to happen again, do you?"

     I said nothing at first.  Richter continued.

     "I don't want my baby girl to be snatch from her crib.  You don't want little Alcander to be taken from his crib by that monster either, do you?"

     "I don't believe that I've to answer that for you Belmont."

     Richter smiled back at me.  "I thought as much, Tepes.  Will you come with me?"

     "Yes, I'll come with you; but first let me tell my wife."

     The next morning Richter and I set out for Castle Dracula.  We took a new road that was built the year before that would make our journey to Castle Dracula faster, but when we arrived all we found were ruins.  The Castle looked exactly the same as it did the last time we watched it crumble.

     "I see no sign of a crypt Richter.  Everything is as it was the last time we were here."

     Richter nodded.  "It appears so, Adrian.  I guess I jumped the gun too quickly."

     "No," I told him.  "You were only concerned for the safety of your wife and children.  I can't blame you for that.  I'm worried about the safety of my family as well."

     "Well," Richter replied, "I guess there's nothing more for us to do here.  I guess we should return home."

     (I shook my head when I finished writing about Richter 'jumping the gun.'  He did not jump the gun, he was thinking correctly.  I, however, was not.)

     In March of this year (1807) I was reclining in my favorite chair with Alcander on my lap when Richter Belmont stopped by to pay me a visit.  He had some urgent news.

     "Adrian, I want you to read this," he told me, as he handed me a letter.

     The letter was from Father Isaiah Kelton, a Jesuit Catholic priest at St. Michael's University in Vienna, Austria.  Not only was Father Kelton a priest but he was also a doctor, who heard about Richter from an eastern-rite Catholic priest on campus. 

     In his letter, Father Kelton describes his two patients, Christina and Deifilia Blair.  They were the daughters of a lower noble family.  Their father, Lord Blair, had asked Father Kelton to examine them after they became ill.  Father Kelton described them as weak and with no desire to eat.  He adds that on their throats are two little wounds, white with red centers.  Father Kelton noted that the wounds are too far apart for an insect bite and too clean for an animal bite.  He assumed they were made by something human, possibly a vampire, but he wanted Richter to come and confirm it for him.

     "What the priest appears to be talking about does sound like a vampire," I replied after I finished the letter.

     "I've already talked to Annette, and I told her that it was my family's duty to investigate evil such as this."

     "I take it that you're going to Austria then?"

     "Yes."

     "How did Annette feel about that?"

     "She wasn't too happy, but she understood that it was my family's duty."

     "Well, I can sympathize with her."

     "Yeah, I can too.  I really don't want to go, but I feel that I must."

     Richter paused for a moment.  And because there was a pause I knew that he was struggling to find the words for a question that he wanted to ask me.  And I also knew exactly what type of question it was going to be.

     "Adrian, I would like to know…would you like to travel with me to Austria to investigate the Catholic priest's request?"

     I responded immediately.  "No."

     "No?" responded Richter; surprised by my answer.  "May I inquire why?"

     "Yes, you may."

     I rose from my chair, and held out Alcander for Richter to see.  "This little boy right here, along with his brother and his mother are the reasons why I don't want to go to Austria."

     "Well, Adrian, I didn't exactly want to leave my wife and children either."

     "I understand that, but it's as you said before, you feel it's your 'family's duty to investigate.'  Well, Richter, it's not mine.  If there actually is a vampire there—and I know there's not—I believe you can handle it.  You don't need my assistance all the time."

     Richter sighed.  It seemed as though I had made my point to him.  "Yes, Adrian, I believe that you're right.  But I do have one request I'd like to ask you?"

     "What's that?" I asked, while I placed Alcander on the floor.

     "That in case what I may discover in Vienna is something serious that you'll come and help me if I really need it."

     I nodded and said, "Yes.  If it's a grave situation I'll come and help you."

     "Thank you, Tepes," Richter replied with a smile.

     I had returned from the park with Maria and our two sons when I discovered a letter from Richter.  In the letter, Richter told me that there was indeed a vampire in Austria and that he had taken the lives of the two sisters that Father Kelton wrote about.  He asked for me help, and although I did not want to leave Maria and the boys, the next day I boarded a ship bound for Vienna.

     Vienna is an impressive city.  It's buildings date back to the middle ages, just like many of Wallachia's structures.  When the boys are older, I would like to go on vacation with Maria to Vienna. 

     Richter and I greeted each other on the campus of St. Michael's University.  The two of us made small talk before he told me something interesting.

     "Adrian, did I ever tell you about my cousin, Rachel?"

     The name did not sound familiar.  "No, I don't think so."

     "Well, she lives here in Vienna."

     "Well, that's nice to hear, Richter.  I hope you took some time to talk to her while you're here in town."

     "Yes, I did," but then Richter's face turned to one of concern.

     "Is something wrong Richter?"

     "She told me that she met a man…a Wallachian prince."

     "Wallachian prince?"

     "Yes.  She said his name was Vlad Tepes."

     I gasped when Richter said that name.  "It can't be Father, can it?"

     "I don't know.  He told her that he's a descendent of Vlad the Monk.  Are you familiar with him?"

     "Yes, he was a kinsman of my father who entered the monastery but…I don't believe that he ever had any children."

     "Perhaps we should investigate it?"

     I nodded.  "Agreed."

     "Good.  I learned from Rachel that this Vlad Tepes was to take her out for dinner this evening."

     "You know where she lives I take it?"

     "Yes."

     "Good.  That'll be the plan for this evening."

     "Right, but right now I'd like to take you over to Father Kelton's quarters and meet my companions.  They've already had some experience in vampire slaying."

     "Really?"

     "Yes.  With those two girls that Father Kelton was unable to save."

     I sighed when Richter told me that.  "I wish that I would've come with you that day.  Perhaps I could've helped save them."

     "I doubt it.  In this part of the world Adrian the idea of a vampire is regarded as pure superstition.  Their father, Lord Blair, thought that Kelton and I had gone mad.  It wasn't until he saw it with his own eyes that he came to believe."

     "You mean that he saw both his daughters as vampires?"

     "Yes."

     I had to pause for a moment after that statement.  I am a man with two children myself, and the thought of witnessing what Lord Blair witnessed with his own children…well, I did not even want to try and comprehend how he would have felt.

     Richter seemed to understand the thoughts I expressed through my body language.  "I sense where you're coming from, Adrian.  If it was Sidra…well, I don't even want to think about it."

     "Perhaps we should just go and meet your companions now?"

     "Yes, lets do that."

     I followed Richter to Father Kelton's quarters, but along the way I took some time to take in the university.  St. Michael's was a beautiful campus.  Some of the trees and small woodland area made me think about Romania for a moment.

     The student body consisted mostly of either the bourgeoisie or the aristocracy.  But this is usually the case for most facilities of higher education.  However, I think that I did notice some students that may have been from lower class families, but these students were probably studying for the priesthood and the Church was paying their expenses.

     Other than that, this campus was probably the same as any other university run by a religious organization.  There was a church for Mass, and a few statues of Jesus, Mary, and some other saints.

     When we arrived at Father Kelton's quarters Richter immediately introduced me to him, and I shook his hand.  Father Kelton was a tall-thin man with dark hair and glasses.  He immediately offered me some refreshment and a place to sit down.  In many ways Father Kelton reminded me of Father Miceadu with the only difference being that Father Kelton was Catholic and Father Miceadu was Orthodox.

     The next person I met was Lord Blair.  Blair was a short-stocky man with brow hair who appeared to be in his late forties.  Although he was of noble blood, Blair dressed in a middle class business suit; and never in anyway acted as though he was better than somebody else because of his birthright.  The humility that Lord Blair showed upset me over more over the loss of his daughters.

     Finally, I met Ambrose Franco and Gabriel Potter.  Ambrose and Gabriel had dated Lord Blair's daughters at the time of their tragic ending, and they were two of the first people who started to take seriously what Richter and Kelton were saying about the girls' condition. 

     Ambrose was an Italian in his early twenties.  He was a tall man with dark skin and eyes, and a composer.  He moved to Vienna to try and make a name for himself in the 'city of musicians'. 

     Gabriel was a local son of Vienna, who was also in his early twenties.  Gabriel was about an inch taller than Ambrose with lighter skin and hair and blue eyes, and an actor. 

     Ambrose and Gabriel met each other while they tried to establish a name for themselves in their respected professions; and this was also how they came in contact with the Blair sisters.  

     After I greeted all of them I decided to speak before all of them about vampires and about how my father may be walking through Vienna's streets.

     "I would first like to thank all of you for your warm hospitality, now I believe we should get to the matter at hand.  Vampires do exist, and I know that all of you believe that based on what Richter has told me, even though it goes against everything the enlightenment stands for.  Yet they do exist, and have been around since practically the beginning of creation.  I, myself, come from such a tradition as well.  I'm the product of a human woman and a vampire, but fortunately through Father Richter Belmont and the Church I was cleansed of any trace of vampire's blood and I now have two beautiful young children.  You should feel special, because next to my wife; my brother-in-law, Richter Belmont; and my wife's sister, Richter's wife, Annette; nobody else knows about my family's history, and I'd appreciate it if all of you kept what I've told you here."

     The four of them nodded.

     "Thank you.  Now I think that we may've discovered the source of our vampire problem, but I'd like it if Richter would explain it to all of you."  I gestured to Richter, and then sat down.

     Richter rose from his seat to address all of us.  "Everyone, earlier today I met up with my cousin, Rachel.  Rachel told me that she has been seeing a man who addresses himself as a prince of Wallachia named Vlad Tepes.

     Prince Vlad Tepes is Adrian's father (Lord Blair, Gabriel, and Ambrose gave me a look after Richter said that), but he was also defeated four years ago.  Rachel told me that this man claimed to be a descendent of Vlad the Monk, a kinsman of Vlad Tepes; but Adrian told me that he doesn't believe Vlad the Monk had any children.  This leads me to believe that this 'Vlad Tepes' may be the vampire himself, known also to us by his nickname 'Dracula'.  Rachel told me that she was to see him this evening, and to make sure that it's him we'll wait outside her apartment tonight."

     "Richter," Gabriel began, "if it's him, what're we to do?"

     "We'll confront him."

     "How dangerous is this man?" asked Lord Blair.

     "Not as dangerous as he could be," I replied.  "I believe that he's still weak after his last defeat."

     "What're the chances that we'll be attacked?" Ambrose asked.

     "I doubt that'll happen," answered Richter.  "Still, we'd best be prepared in case that happens.  I'm sure you know what equipment we need?"

     The four of them nodded in unison.

     "Good.  We'll wait outside her apartment this evening then."

     Rachel Belmont lived in the working class area of Vienna, which was a far cry from the lifestyle Richter and I come from, which is mostly rural.  Working class, but rural.  I was actually afraid that we might experience an encounter with a petty thief, but fortunately we did not.

     The light of the moon cast its powerful glaze all over the city, along with the streetlights that were lit every evening.  We waited outside her apartment for about an hour, and while we waited the streets started to clear.

     Finally, Richter informed us that he spotted his cousin.  She was walking arm-in-arm with her date.

     "My God that's him!" I whispered.  It was indeed my father back from the grave, although he was dressed in modern clothing.

          Father must have returned that day Richter and I watched the day turn briefly into night.  Richter acted seriously on the events that occurred and I did not.  I did not believe that Father was back because the Castle was not restored, and for over three hundred years Castle Dracula was always a sign of Father's existence.  I now believe that the reason why the Castle did not return that day was because Father was too weak to call for it.  What an opportunity Richter and I missed to slay him!  Father was probably still very weak from the affects of the Eucharist, which is why he left Romania to escape vampire hunters.

     Austria was a safe haven for him, because Austria—like most of Western Europe—had been affected by what was known as the 'Enlightenment.'  To children of the Enlightenment vampirism was nothing more than a ridiculous superstition that was invented by the Church to keep mankind in the darkness.  If someone dies from a vampire's kiss the vampire will be safe, because if no one believes that they exist how can they ever be hunted?  Under that philosophy, Father could find the time he needed to recover from the Eucharist.

     Father immediately stopped, and Rachel appeared confused.  "Vlad," she said, "is something wrong?"

     He did not answer her.  He only replied, "Alucard, come forth!"

     I was shocked.  He sensed that I was nearby, even though I know that he could not have seen me.

     Rachel was still confused.  "Vlad, who're you talking to?"

     Again Father did not answer her.  Instead he forcefully grabbed her by the arm, and placed his other hand over her mouth so she could not scream.

     At this moment all of us stepped forward, and I addressed him.

     "All right Father, I'm here."

     "Damn it, let her go!" shouted Richter.

     Father flashed us a grin.  "So you found me, eh?"

     "Yes, we found you," I replied.  "And I know that you'd prefer me over her, so please let her go."

     Father chuckled.  "You over her?  Not exactly.  You see, son, she's a Belmont.  What a victory it would be for me to make a Belmont into my image."

     Father flashed his fangs, and turned his eyes to Rachel's throat.  Immediately all of us raised our crucifixes.  Father snarled and turned away, but he did not let go of Rachel.

     "Put them away," he declared.

     "Only if you let her go," I told him.

     Father paused before he finally released Rachel to us then he vanished into the night.  Rachel was all right, just a little shaken.  We stayed with her for the rest of the evening, and when morning came we underwent our search for Father.

     Through shipping records we learned that a box carrying earth left port early that morning and was bound for Romania.  Father was trying to escape us, but we were not going to let him.

     That afternoon Richter, Kelton, Blair, Gabriel, Ambrose, and I all boarded a ship bound for Romania.  Rachel Belmont went with us as well.  For her safety, Richter did not want her to stay alone in Vienna.

     When we arrived at Warakiya Village we could see the Castle in the distance.

     "Vlad the Impaler has regained his power well enough to bring back the Castle," Richter said.

     I nodded and looked at everyone in the party.

     "Everyone," I began, while I pointed to the Castle; "tomorrow that'll be our destination, Castle Dracula.  Waiting for us will be the monster himself.  I'm sure that some of you're worried and there's nothing wrong with that.  Fear keeps us sharp and helps us survive.  But our fear of Dracula can be countered by one powerful gift."

     "What's that?" asked Father Kelton.

     "Faith, Father.  Never give up faith, and never give up hope.  These weapons are the most powerful weapon against Vlad the Impaler and the forces of evil."

     That evening Gabriel and Ambrose spent the night at my home, while Blair, Kelton, and Rachel stayed at the Belmont residence.

     I discovered that Gabriel has a fondness for children.  He really enjoyed spending time with my two sons, especially Alcander.  He told me privately that he would like to have a family of his own one-day, if he could survive the situation he currently found himself in.  I echoed the words that I told the rest of the party earlier that day.  Have faith and never give it up.

     The next morning our party attended a joint Orthodox-Catholic Mass at the Belmont chapel with Maria, Annette, and our children in attendance.  Then we set out for Castle Dracula.

     The journey to Castle Dracula took three days, and once we arrived it took us about three hours to reach the throne room.  Father, as patient as ever, reclined on his throne; and did not even acknowledge our presence until we were about ten feet away from him.

     "Six Alucard?  It takes six men for you to fight me now?  …I don't know what to think about you anymore, Alucard."

     "If you're going on numbers Father, you have an infinite number of servants to act as your guards."

     Father smiled.  "Always one for the clever comebacks weren't you Alucard."

     The next thing I know Lord Blair stepped forward.  I had no idea what he was thinking, and when I tried to ask him he gestured me away; but I was about to find out.

     "Vlad Tepes?"

     My father looked down at him.  He was probably as surprised as all of us that Lord Blair stepped forward.

     "Yes?"

     "I've but one simple question to ask you.  Why did you take my daughters away from me?  They posed no threat to you.  They were my only children, and as someone who has children of his own, how could you do that to me and my family?"

     I was surprised how calm Lord Blair remained after he asked my father such a sensitive question.  But what I was not surprised about was my father's uncaring attitude.

     "Your daughters were innocent victims."

     "What?  What do you mean by that?"

     "I mean that they were two innocent victims in the war with God."

     "What?!"  Lord Blair was now becoming agitated.  "I don't understand you."

     "Well, it's quite simple really.  Your daughters' names were Christian and Deifilia.  Now Christina is the feminine version of the name Christian, while Deifilia's Latin for 'God's daughter'.  What better way for me to get even with God then to use two names that have such close ties with Him and morph them into my image."

     Lord Blair was furious.  "What?!  You mean that you did this just to get even with God?!"

     Yes, Lord Blair.  This is unfortunately how my father works, but Father responded by brushing off the criticism and placing it onto Lord Blair's shoulders.

     "Don't blame me for what happened.  It's your fault not mine."

     "My fault?!"

     "Yes, all you had to do was to name them something else when they were born and this never would've happened to you."

     "You son of a bitch!" screeched Lord Blair.  "I'll send you right back to Hell!"

     Father roared in laughed as he stood up from his throne.  He was wearing a cloak, and a gust of wind caught it.  Father appeared to stand as a warrior of old when he declared to Lord Blair, "By all means, try!"

     Lord Blair was the first to attack.  He splashed a bottle of holy water that sprinkled on Father's arm, burning his skin like acid.  Father snarled, but was quick to counterattack.  He grabbed Lord Blair by his wrist, but Richter quickly cracked his whip, which forced Father to lose his grip and retreat behind his throne.

     Father then used the same attack that he did when Trevor and I battled him over three hundred years ago.  Richter and I helped Blair and Kelton to farthest corner of the room where they would be safe from the flames, but Lord Blair wanted to fight!

     "I want to kill that son of a bitch!" he shouted.

     "I know," I told him, "but you're in no position to battle with him right now."

     "And I suppose you're any better?" he countered, and he did have a point.

     Father was not a stupid man.  I seriously doubted that he would have fallen for the same strategy Trevor and I used three hundred years ago, but perhaps he would fall for something else.  I whispered to the members of my party and we hatched a plot.

     "Father!" I shouted through the flames.  "I know that you'd rather fight me more than any of the other party members here!"

     "Ha!" Father shouted back.  "I'd prefer actually to fight the man who called me a 'son of a bitch' and said he was going to send me 'back to Hell.'"

     "You know perfectly well Father that, that man's in no condition to battle you."

     "What lies!  I was the same age he is when my earthly life expired, and I could still fight!"

     "Yes, but you were a trained warrior, and he's not.  Fighting him would be the equivalent of fighting my two-year-old, who'd use his baby bottle as a sword." (I apologized to Lord Blair afterwards for making that comparison, but I had to say something to turn Father's attention away from him and onto me.)  "The rest of my party will throw down their weapons and you can fight me one-on-one."

     Immediately the flames subsided, and Father looked at me right in the eyes.

     "Tell them to lay them down now."

     I motioned to everyone to do as Father requested and they did.

     But then Father added, "Now tell them to kick their weapons over to me."

     I did not expect this, and Father's words made some of the party members apprehensive.

     "Should we really do that?" asked Ambrose.

     I nodded affirmatively.  "Have faith, my friend."

     Everyone else agreed, and pushed their weapons towards Father.  He gently stepped over them, which made all of us aware that if we wanted to use them again we would have to go through him.

     Father unsheathed his sword, ready for battle, but before our swords clashed together Father received a bullet in the chest.  Gabriel had kept a small handgun under his coat, and I told him that when the time was right to fire.

     The bullet did not actually hurt Father, but it did cause him to stagger back.  With Father staggered, I seized the opportunity to pierce him with my sword; but that was not the final blow.  That honor went to Lord Blair, who avenged his daughters by inserting a piece of the consecrated Host into Father's mouth.  


	13. Family Life

__

Time stands still,  
when days of innocence,  
are falling for the night.  
I love you girl,  
I always will.  
I swear I'm there for you,  
till the day I'll die-

"You and I"-The Scorpions

Family Life

As the ink strikes the paper from the pen I look over my shoulder to view my wife and children. Maria's trying to prepare something for them, while Lysander and Alcander continue to pound away at her knees.

Since my life as an adventurer has officially come to end (perhaps it did technically did the moment I said "I do" four years ago) I am now devoting all the time I can to my family. Whenever I am not out hunting with Richter, running through my woods in wolf form, or having a few drinks at the tavern, I am always with my family.

During the week Maria and I often take our sons to the park so they can play with other children. Both of us believe that this is one of the best ways Lysander and Alcander can improve their social skills, just as my mother thought it would with me. The park always provides the occasional humor for me. I often catch a glance at how some of the old timers look at me when I sit with my children or carry them. They look at me as though 'I'm just a young father.' Yet little do they know that I could have played with their ancestors, if they lived in the village below the Castle.

Ever since her experiences in Castle Dracula, Maria has grown more and more religious. Not in a fanatical way that rams religion down my throat, but in a manner that involves attending church on Sundays.

Every Sunday morning, Maria wakes at the brink of dawn. She is quickly out of bed and dresses herself for church. Then she goes to the boys' rooms to dress them in their church attire; and if she has enough time, she will literally drag me out of the bed and force me to dress myself and accompany them.

While I have never been anti-religious (although I have been upset at the Church a few times) I have never had much interest to go to church. The Mass to me is boring, and I do not think that my children enjoy it much either. Lysander usually falls asleep on my lap, and Alcander would probably start crying if it was not for a baby bottle or pacifier to quiet him.

Ironically, my children are the key factors that determine whether or not I go to church, especially Alcander. If Alcander fights Maria when she tries to change his diaper it usually results in me not having to attend church. I used to lie in bed and pray silently to God, asking Him to let Alcander struggle, but every time I said that prayer Maria would be dragging me out of bed. I suppose that it was foolish to ask a divine being to let me skip attending His house of worship.

I would love to have some more children. Especially, a little girl, two boys are quite enough for me. But it does not appear that will happen any time soon. Maria has made it explicitly clear that she does not want any more children. She tells me that the responsibilities that come with young children have been too much for her over the last four years. She would just like to wake up one day where she does not have a screaming baby to take care of. I rarely (if ever) washed, fed, or changed Lysander; and I do even less with Alcander. I suppose that if I helped Maria out more with her motherly duties that she would be more inclined to give me the daughter I would love to have.


	14. Brave New World

_May it be your fate  
to live in interesting times_-  
Ancient Chinese Proverb

Brave New World 

     When a man takes a 300-year nap, he may find out that the world he wakes up to is not the same world that it was when he went to sleep.  The world has changed since 1495.  When I went to sleep there were two distinct Churches in Christendom, the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.  These two Churches had been united until the Great Schism of 1054, and could trace their roots back to the time of Jesus and the Apostles.

     But within twenty years of my rest a German Catholic priest named Martin Luther challenged the Catholic Church's authority, and his protest would result in a movement known as _Protestantism_.  From what I have read there appears hundreds of these different Protestant churches—most of whom have no connection whatsoever to Martin Luther's original protest—and each with a different theological understanding of God. 

     Protestantism has not made much of an impact in Romania, but Richter is completely against it.  He argues that some Protestants deny the real presence of Christ in Communion, will not listen to the authority of the Church, and do not have a firm understanding of Christian history, because if they did, according to Richter, they would not be Protestant.

     That of course is the position of Father Richter Belmont.  I hold a much different position.  I truly do not care what anybody believes.  All I care about is protecting my family.  If someone's religious beliefs do not harm my family then they are free to worship however they wish.

      When I was growing up a child in Romania the feudal style of government was accepted universally.  "Every man needs a lord, and ever lord needs a king" and no one dared to ever question it.

     In Western Europe, Feudalism is becoming a thing of the past, led in part by the revolution in France, and its emperor-general Napoleon Bonaparte.  Filled by the nationalism of the French people, Napoleon has been leading his massive army into the east, seizing new territory along with it. 

     Taverns in our town are filled with patrons discussing the possibility of Napoleon entering our country, but I tell them that is highly doubtful.  I do not believe that a Mediterranean European like Napoleon can handle the harsh climate of the Carpathians, and I base my belief on another legendary general, Alexander the Great.  Alexander came from the same Mediterranean climate as Napoleon, but once he reached the harsh winter mountains of northern India he suffered his first major blow, which would lead to his downfall.  Napoleon will be much the same.

     Nationalism is not only strong in France, it is strong in Romania as well, and perhaps I am misleading when I use the term 'Romania.'  Romania is a term that we use in Wallachia to designate the people not only of our state, but also the states of Moldavia and Transylvania.  Yet we are not a united country, nor are our rulers Romania.  Currently we are under the rule of the Russian Tsar Alexander I, and in Russia Feudalism is law. 

     Serfdom exists in Russia, although it does not have a major impact in Romania, which I tend to prefer.  Growing up with an aristocratic background I was taught to respect people of all classes (although my father did detest the Turks), but peasants and surfs were viewed as people who simply could not advance to the next class.  The philosophy was "if you're born poor, you'll die poor, so just do the best you can in life and God will reward you in Heaven."  I too accepted this philosophy until I became more familiar with working class people.  Everybody deserves the chance to make something of themselves, and they should be judged on their merits, not on the status of their birth.

     Obviously there is so much more I can talk about, but I will stop for now.  In closing, the 330-years of my life have been filled with ups and downs, but so are the lives of many others.  Still if I was to wade the bad (my mother's death, Father's returns, and Lysander's kidnapping) with the good (my marriage to Maria, defeating my Father, the birth of my two sons, and recovering Lysander) the good outweighs the bad.  I hope that when Lysander and Alcander are old enough to look back on their lives that they see that their lives were filled with more positive moments than negative moments.

The End

Cody the Impaler

July 22, 2004

"Up the Irons!"


End file.
